Morning Light
by ChristianGateFan
Summary: Twilight Crossover. When Daniel disappears, he is eventually assumed dead by all but his friends. When he turns up again, will he be the Daniel they knew? What new secrets will he bring with him this time? Daniel&Vala, some Sam
1. Chapter 1

In honor of the "Breaking Dawn" being so great and the "Twilight" movie being so close to release, I decided to become temporarily insane (yes, I know, such a shock, lol) and write a Stargate SG-1/Twilight crossover. This takes place after "Breaking Dawn," so any spoilers for the book series are fair game. It also takes place after Contiuum, so any SG-1 spoilers are also possible. This story was inspired by the awesomness of the Twilight saga, the brilliance of the characters of SG-1, and also, strangely enought, the new single "Love Song" by young country artist Taylor Swift. (And yes, I stuck with the suaul Twilight-ish title sort-of theme.)

This is a teaser, to get a feel for if anyone likes this idea at all. Don't freak out after you read just this. remember that it's fanfiction and anything can happen. ;) Please let me know what you think! Thanks so much!

Morning Light

The forest surrounding Cheyenne Mountain was cool in the evening autumn weather, and Vala shivered in her jean jacket. It was time to start breaking out the heavier coat for when she came here.

"But you know, I wouldn't have to be shivering out here if you hadn't disappeared on us," she muttered into the wind. "I mean really, Daniel, a whole year? I know you've done it before, but you didn't even give a good reason this time. You didn't give _any_ reason," she huffed. Then more quietly she added, "And this time I have to be here to miss you."

She sighed and dropped on the boulder on which she usually held vigil. She wasn't sure why she kept coming here. She didn't honestly expect to find anything. She didn't even look; she just sat here. She decided that she drew comfort from being in the last place she had seen Daniel—as if being here remembering extended that moment to the present and made it as if he had never been gone.

Vala grimaced and quickly stopped in its tracks the sound in her mind of the agonized scream that had been the last she'd heard of him. She blacked out the replaying memory of turning and not seeing him, and never seeing him again.

"Why?" she whispered. "I don't understand. I know we were never—well, anything, really, except sort of friends…But why did you have to leave just when it seemed like something more could happen?"

She asked these questions nearly every time she came here, late in the afternoon when no one would miss her. Sometimes they passed her lips, and sometimes not. The tears didn't come as often anymore.

She wondered why she came so much, but then again, she had nowhere else to go. Daniel had never had a chance to teach her to drive, and now she had no interest, for some reason. Of course the others were still themselves, still her friends…but there was no real distraction there. Teal'c cared for her, but he wouldn't take up with someone so much younger, and Sam and Cameron comforted each other. That small hint of a possible relationship had cascaded and blossomed after Daniel's disappearance, probably with of the need of that comfort as a catalyst.

Life was not bad by any means, besides his absence. SG-1 was no less a team than before—perhaps more so for the strain they went through together—but somehow nothing helped her more than sitting here. She felt closer to him here.

Something caught her eye as she went to leave again, a little later in the evening. Vala whirled quickly, but saw nothing at first.

"Wh-who's there?"

Her heart began beating wildly without provocation, but she didn't realize why until she saw the white chiseled figure that appeared to have just stepped out from behind a tree about a hundred yards away. The human-like figure stood frozen there, as if in shock.

Vala's mouth hung open. She didn't know what it was, but something made her move closer. She had closed almost half of the distance before she stopped dead and drew in a sudden gasp of air. She stared stupidly, unable to trust her eyes.

It was definitely a man, but a man so stunning that it almost hurt her eyes to look at him. He stared back, unwavering. He didn't even blink, and from where she was she could only tell that his eyes were a crystalline shade of some brilliant, light color that didn't seem natural. His eyes shone out from under short, perfectly cut brown hair. Everything about him was perfect—even the way the t-shirt and jeans it didn't look like he belonged in hung on him.

"What are you doing here?" he demanded softly, almost desperately. There was no threat in the words. But his voice…

His voice was like nothing she had ever heard. It was more beautiful than any human's had a right to be. But what he really human?

Wait…

There was something she recognized in that voice.

Vala took several abrupt steps forward, close enough that she could make out the individual features of his face. He looked like he wanted to run away, but something held him where he was, studying her in return almost as if…as if he knew her.

Her heart skipped a beat, and then went right on beating wildly.

It couldn't be.

"Daniel?"

His eyes widened just a fraction.

She was right, somehow. It was impossible, but she was right.

Suddenly Vala didn't care how insane it was; she knew it was him, even if she didn't know how he could possibly have changed like this.

She was only glad he was alive.

He certainly didn't seem to have expected it when she ran to him and threw her arms around his neck, but what _she_ hadn't expected was the touch of his skin. It was cold, even through his shirt, almost hard, and much too pale, she realized anew now that she was so close.

And then there was nothing in her arms, and she gasped when she saw him standing several feet away, eyes as wide as saucers.

Bright _amber_ eyes wide as saucers.

Vala gaped. "What…what happened to you? We thought you were dead," she stammered clumsily.

"I was," he said. That surprised her enough, but now that he spoke at a normal volume she was shocked again by the sound of his voice. She was now definite that it was the most glorious sound she had ever heard. "What are you doing here?" he asked again. His face clearly portrayed confusion this time, conflicting with something else, like pain. But it was all still just as beautiful as before.

"I come here…" she tried to explain. "Since you disappeared, I just…I come here sometimes. I don't know why. Something told me I should." She swallowed. "What happened to you?" she repeated.

Daniel was backing up already, his movements more graceful than any career dancer. "I-I…can't explain. You shouldn't _be_ here. You should go. Now. _I_ should go. I'm so sorry…You have to forget you saw me. No one can know. I should have run; I'm sorry, I was just so surprised to see you. I miss all of you…" His face was a mask of agony. "But I'm dead. You can't think anything else. I can't come back. I'm sorry, I—goodbye."

"No, wait!" Vala cried.

But he was already gone.


	2. Chapter 2

Hey guys! Thanks so much for the response to my first chapter! I'm glad ya'll like this idea, and I hope you like this chapter and that I'll continue to hear from all of you. It helps so much. Thanks. Enjoy!

Chapter 2

Within a couple of hours or so of running that didn't tire him in the slightest, whizzing past trees and creeks and fields and avoiding civilization, Daniel was back in the outskirts of Forks, Washington

Within a couple of hours or so of running that didn't tire him in the slightest, whizzing past trees and creeks and fields and avoiding civilization, Daniel was back in the outskirts of Forks, Washington. It was cloudy, as usual, and he didn't need to use much caution as he approached the Cullen home from behind, through the trees, and quietly let himself in through a set of the sliding doors into the living room.

He'd hoped that most of them would be elsewhere, but three of the four in the room when he entered. Rosalie was on the couch with her significant other Emmet, and Jasper was on the floor nearby. Jasper and Emmet were watching a game on the large widescreen television, but Rosalie was paying more attention to Emmet. Renesmee was in a nearby chair reading; she was the one that hadn't looked up.

Rosalie was the one that continued to look for him even as he made for the stairs. "Don't tell me you were hunting _again_. You were somewhere else, weren't you?"

"Hey, just because he's the new guy doesn't mean you have to keep harping on him," Emmet scolded gently, giving him an apologetic look.

He would have shaken it off himself, but Daniel immediately felt the calming effects of Jasper's ability to influence the emotions of those around him. He just shrugged. Rosalie threw a pillow at Jasper.

"You were the one attempting to anger people," he said calmly through a small smile, as he kept his eyes on the game. Emmet snickered.

When their attention was all focused on the game again, Daniel wondered over to Renesmee. Edward and Bella's daughter was an interesting character, to say the least. Then there was the fact that she had looked about eleven when he had first met her a year ago, and now she appeared to be more like fourteen. As half-breed of human and vampire, she grew quickly, but would stop in two or three years as a young adult; she would be just as immortal as the rest of them were.

"What you reading?" he asked, eyeing the large volume in her hands.

She reached up absently and brushed one hand on his cheek, her head still in the book. Immediately her unique brand of her communication that was _her_ gift flooded his mind with images of ruined cities, ancient civilizations, and dig sites. "You have me interested, since you've been here. I'm only just starting now because I had a backlog of books I wanted to read," she told him, and then finally looked up and smiled.

"Well, you certainly have enough time," he noted. "But yeah, if you ever have any questions, I'd be glad to answer them."

"Great," she replied brightly, and then turned back to her book.

Anything to feel _some_ connection with his human life. It bothered him to no end that this new state of being threw a haze in his mind over his human memories. He was still himself; he remembered what had happened. He remembered his friends…his family. But it wasn't as sharp as it once had been.

Or maybe it was just because everything was so much sharper since he had become a vampire. Well, at least he could think the word without cringing, now.

He knew that most of the others didn't remember much of their human life at all, and Alice remembered nothing. That was why he thought about his friends every day; he was afraid of ending up like that. He supposed that after several centuries, the memories might fade much more, but he supposed that by then it would be easier. Right now he still clung to those memories like life-lines.

And he lived day-by-day, still wondering how he was supposed to cope with living forever.

* * *

Sam wasn't looking for Vala to come into her lab that afternoon at all, much less for her to all but storm in. She looked confused and angry, and her simple ponytail was frizzy and mussed. She didn't say word when she came in; she only crossed to the nearest stool and sat down. She didn't seem to know what to do with herself.

She set down the gadget she was working on and looked in her friend's direction. "Vala? Are you okay?"

For a long moment she was silent. "It was a year last month," she said finally.

Sam froze momentarily, because she knew exactly what Vala meant.

She'd been trying to forget.

"I know," she admitted.

"Why aren't we still looking?"

"We had dozens of search parties all over these mountains for weeks; we still have feelers out over this entire _planet_. If anyone connected to us or the SGC in any way had seen him anywhere, we would know," Sam sighed. "I don't like it anymore than you, but there's nothing else we can do." It sounded good to her. It was what she tried to make herself believe, anyway.

But Vala saw through it immediately, and scoffed at it. "Don't give me that. We're not really looking anymore. None of us has really had any hope for months." She swallowed visibly, and looked away as if out of shame. "Why did lose hope? Why did we give up on him?"

"We didn't—"

"Yes, we did."

Sam stared at her desktop; she couldn't say anything else to that.

"We shouldn't have," Vala said unevenly. "We should never give up on each other. We can't. It's not right; we're a _team_. We're friends. We would _know_ if he was dead…" She was sounding dangerously close to tears when she finally stopped.

Sam looked up slowly, trying to think. "But he would have found a way to contact us by now, if he was alive…We know Daniel. We know he would have."

"Maybe we don't know him," she whispered.

"What?"

Vala shook her head. "No, nothing. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have bothered you. I'm….I'm just a little upset right now. I'll be fine." She got up to go, but Sam stood and went to her.

"Are you sure you're all right?" she asked gently, a hand on her arm.

Vala only nodded. "Thanks." Then she hurried out.

* * *

Daniel went for the stairs, just avoiding Alice as she shot down them. She went around Rosalie and Emmet on the couch and gracefully glided to a seat on the floor next to Jasper, her own mate. He would have gone on up then, but he heard Carlisle's car pulling into the end of the long driveway, home from work. Esme had already heard it too, of course, and she wasn't far behind Alice on the stairs, though the quiet woman didn't run. Though Esme was frozen at an age only a few years beyond the rest of the Cullens, who all appeared to be in their late teens or early twenties, she was a perfect match for Carlisle, the eternally 30-something head of the household.

Knowing the new desires being like this gave them in way of nourishment, the man still amazed Daniel. He had long since disciplined himself to stand the smell of human blood well enough to hold a long, successful career as a doctor.

Bella and Edward came in then, too, from the back as he had. Their bright amber eyes told that they had just come from hunting. Renesmee had once always gone with them, but once she had reached a size that appeared to be about thirteen, they had begun to allow her to go on her own if she wished.

"How's the book?" Bella called.

"Good," the girl answered shortly. She had never been one for talking much, as far as Daniel had heard. So far it had held true.

Bella just shook her head, and smiled—probably at the immensity of the book as well as the answer. She and Edward took great pride in their little girl. It was hard to believe that she was really only four-and-a-half years old; she matured even faster than she grew.

"You're back, too," Edward noted, looking at Daniel.

"Yea." He was careful not think in words of where he had been; Edward would have picked it up immediately. _His_ ability was mind-reading, which made it difficult for Daniel. He couldn't actively think of his friends around Edward if the words he was remembering had anything to do with the stargate or the SGC, other planets…

When Carlisle came in, every member of the Cullen family was in the living room. They all lived here, too, though Edward, Bella, and Renesmee had a cottage out in the woods. Daniel was the odd one out here, though it had already been general decided that when he had enough self-control to be out in public among humans again, that he would be introduced as a cousin of Carlisle's.

He tried not to think about when he would have to decide that. He had no idea what he was going to decide.

Carlisle and Esme didn't stays downstairs long before going back up together. Emmet and Rosalie went up not much longer after that. Daniel had move into one of the chairs to watch the television absently, but soon he found the petite Alice standing over him intently, and realized that the living room was completely empty of the others that had remained moments ago.

"Yes?"

She didn't say a word; she grabbed his arm and lead him out the back door. "The others are busy in the house now; we need to talk," she said, and then lead the way a short distance away from the house—far enough away that none of the others could pick up exactly what they were saying no matter how hard they tried, and Edward could not read their thoughts. He wasn't intrusive, but much of it he couldn't help but hear.

When the trees alone surrounded them, Alice stopped and turned to him.

"I've already seen that I can't stop you from seeing her, but you have to promise me that you'll be careful."

"What…?" It was hard to forget that Alice could see the future, or possible futures, or likely ones…it was hard to remember just how it worked. But he did remember that it had something to do with reading from decisions someone had made. "But…how can you know that? I haven't decided whether I'm even going back yet."

"Yes, you have. You're going to go back, and you're going to see her."

"I—" But there was no use in denying it. "I don't think I can _not_ go back, now that she's seen me. I can't leave her like that. I didn't mean for it to happen in the first place…But you're probably right," he sighed. "I'll have to go back, sometime soon. I have to try to offer some kind of explanation."

"I was afraid of that. I won't stop you; in fact, it would probably be better if you told her the truth, instead of letting her wonder and search and draw attention to herself. But you have to be careful about this. The Volturri—"

"I remember. You've all told me about them. I've heard the stories. Renesmee has even showed me the one she was alive to witness. Believe me; I don't want to get into anything with them any more than the rest of you do."

Alice nodded. "Then you know that no one can ever see you with this human woman, or even hear of it—not even the others here, if we can help it; just to be safe."

"I know…I had thought of that, too."

There was a moment of silence. "Is she the woman that was with you in the woods in Colorado before you were attacked?" He nodded. "That's her. I knew her for a few years, before I ended up here. Her name is Vala."

"Interesting name."

Daniel raised an eyebrow. "We're vampires, and you're talking about a name?"

Alice sighed. "Just promise you'll be careful."

"I promise, really. I want her to be safe just as much as you want to keep the rest of your family safe."

She looked at him for a long moment. "I know you've felt awkward here, with no mate, and because you look older than all of us—but that doesn't mean that we don't count you as one of ours, now. Carlisle was serious when he said you could take our name, when you get to the point that you need a new identity. I agree with him."

Daniel smiled just a bit. "I remember. And thank you. Again. But I'm just not sure yet. True, there's really nowhere I can go, like this, but…"

"Your eyes are amber now; the red has been gone for months. All you have to do is reach a decent self-control level, and you could blend in with humans like we do. You could go anywhere. That doesn't mean we want you to."

"I'm sure Rosalie wouldn't mind," he smirked.

Alice shrugged. "She's like that with everyone."

"So I gathered." He paused. "Why aren't you being harder on me about this?"

"Because Edward found his soul-mate in a human. Granted, she's not human anymore, but maybe things will work out differently for you."

"W-what? No," he stammered. "It's not like that. We were just friends. She annoyed me more often than—why are you even going there? Did you see something else I don't know about?"

She shook her head. "No. It just seemed like the most logical explanation. Right now I don't know kind of relationship you two have, had, will have…and it's not important. It only bothers me that I can't see clearly yet whether any of this will lead to danger. You know how that gets to me."

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean for any of this to bother you…what am I _saying_? I don't even know what I'm going to do yet."

"You will soon." She looked at him. "So you'll be careful?"

"Of course."

"Good." She immediately became more animated. "Now that we have that straightened out, you can explain what you're wearing to me."

"What?"

She scowled at him. "I bought you a whole closet of clothes, and you're going to wear _that_?"

Money wasn't an object for the Cullens. Most of them, especially Carlisle, had had longer than a normal human to save it, and they didn't have to buy food and other things humans needed.

"What's wrong with this?" he asked, looking down at his t-shirt and jeans.

"It's simple. It's normal. You have the same problem Bella did—still does."

Of course, Daniel knew what Alice thought. She had told him many times, and with the steel trap of a brain he had now, that remembered perfectly everything that had happened to him since he had woken as a vampire, he remembered every one of them. Alice was the fashion guru of the family—or maybe it was more like the fashion police. They had money, and she made sure every single one of them was dressed appropriately.

Alice grabbed his arm again, and they streaked back into the house. She lead right up to the room he'd been given, left him there, went into the large walk-in closet and came out with a set of clothes on hangers.

"Here. If you want to be casual, at least be causal _my_ way," she said brightly. "Besides; you want to look nice when you go out," she said, and winked at him.

Daniel winced. He glanced at the relatively comfortable-looking khakis and the collared shirt. He gave a martyred sigh and took them from her. "I guess it's the least I can do."


	3. Chapter 3

Sorry guys, I had a PSAT to take, two papers to write, and an all-weekend choir thing to go to recently, lol. Anyway, here ya go. Please enjoy, and let me hear from you! Thanks!

Chapter 3

By the time Cameron wandered into her lab a couple of hours after Vala had, Sam still hadn't been able to push the strange conversation from her mind. She tried to write it off as Vala being Vala, missing Daniel like the rest of them, but it wouldn't leave her alone. Something seemed wrong.

"Hey, baby," he smiled, leaning on the table across from her.

"Hi…" she said, and rolled her eyes a little.

"What's new?"

Sam sighed and dropped her work again. "Have you seen Vala since she came back inside today?"

"Yeah. She came into the commissary, grabbed a snack, and left with it. Usually she eats in there, but she looked totally distracted. Why? Did you see her too?"

She nodded. "She was upset about something, and she was bringing up…Daniel. It was a year last month," she swallowed, not happy of the reminder.

"I know," Cam sighed. He stood, walked around the worktable and wrapped his arms around her from behind. "I still miss him, too, but it doesn't look like he's coming back this time."

Sam leaned into him for a moment, savoring the warmth that brought some small amount of comfort. They were silent for a minute or two, before she remembered where they were.

"We're at work, Cam," she said, pulling away suddenly.

"Okay, okay," he relented, going back around the table and leaning on his elbows again. "But you know somebody besides Vala and Teal'c is going to find out eventually. We might as well tell Landry. We're still the same rank, so no one's going to kick our butts."

"No, but they _will_ make one of us move to a different team."

"That wouldn't be so bad. It wouldn't change much. Besides, it was your team first; _I'll_ switch. Then we won't have to worry about anything. Besides, SG-1 was a three-man team once before. Can't you and Teal'c hold down the fort with Vala as well as you did with Daniel?"

She covered his hands with hers and smiled. "I guess we could." She sighed. "I appreciate the sentiment, Cam, but I don't think that's necessary right now."

"Hey, don't get me wrong; I don't _want_ to be on another team, but I don't want to put anyone in danger either. Those rules are in place for good reason."

"I know that," she said slowly. "But…I think for now we should just see where this goes." Though they couldn't deny what they had grown to feel for each other over the past several months, the relationship was still entirely platonic. Sam knew Vala was under the impression that there was more, but that was Vala; it was useless to try to convince her otherwise.

Cam shrugged and squeezed her hands. "Okay. I guess you're right. Anyway, I better get goin. You want me to come over this afternoon?"

Sam's thought returned Vala, her words, and the haunted look on her face. She shivered. "Yeah. I think I'm going to need a movie break tonight."

* * *

The wormhole was even more dizzying than usual as Vala's friends and teammates rushed her back through it. Teal'c was holding her up on one side, and Cameron was on the other, using his other hand to keep the gauze from the emergency medical kit pressed to the side of her head as Sam had told him to. She had gone just ahead of them, to make sure there was a gurney waiting.

The lights in the gate room seemed glaring, and she squinted as they stepped onto the grated metal ramp. Sam was waiting at the bottom of the ramp, and Carolyn was coming in with a nurse, pushing the requested gurney.

"Guys, really, I don't think I need that," she protested. But Teal'c and Cameron all but picked her up off of her feet to get her down the ramp. Teal'c picked her up and sat her on the gurney.

"Maybe not, but there's no reason to take any chances. Just relax; you'll be fine," Sam told her.

Mitchell crossed his arms. "Of course, it would have been better if you'd avoided an accident in the first place."

Vala sighed and laid back, letting the nurse pull away the gauze so Carolyn could get a look at the head wound as they started back for the infirmary with her. She closed her eyes against the pounding in her skull. She heard her friends footsteps following the gurney, and decided to take the chance to retort.

"Well, excuse me, but I'm not usually looking for bobby-traps in a temple."

"Vala, you didn't notice you'd stepped on some kind of trip wire until the log smacked you in the head! You were staring into space, and we weren't close enough to warn you in time. You're lucky it wasn't spiked or something and that you're not _dead_. What's been up with you?"

"Nothing," she said defensively, glaring at him briefly before closing her eyes again. I mean really, we're SG-1, not Indiana Jones and friends."

"You've seen those?" Mitchell asked curiously.

She snorted. "Yes, well, Daniel wasn't here to discourage me from watching them, so I succumbed to curiosity and borrowed them from muscles here."

"You have the Indiana Jones DVDs?" Sam asked of Teal'c.

"Indeed. I enjoy many more of actor Harrison Ford's works beyond _Star Wars_."

"Huh…you know Daniel would have killed you if he'd known."

Vala opened her eyes again, and she saw Sam and Mitchell looking at Teal'c, who's expression grew sad.

"That is why he did not know," the jaffa said quietly.

They were all quiet after that.

Vala had to close her eyes again to keep the tears she felt coming on from being seen. She didn't want them to wonder.

She'd tried to obey the apparition in the woods.

She really had.

Daniel wouldn't have hidden from them if he was alive. What possible reason could he have? It had to have been her imagination. There was no other explanation.

That was what she told herself, anyway, but the thought that it might have been real—that Daniel might be out there somewhere, alive and well without them, without _her_….it was too much to think about. The doubt ate at her heart, and had been doing it for more than a week. She had been too confused to risk going into the woods again, because part of her was afraid of what she would find.

Vala pushed that part of herself aside. She'd had enough of this.

She had to know the truth; she would go back to her spot in the woods.

* * *

Daniel had told the Cullens he had to take care of a few things, and he'd left. He'd been here ever since, in the woods outside of the SGC, for over a week. It wasn't hard to stay here around the clock, since he needed no sleep or food save an occasional small animal to keep him satisfied enough until he had time to get back to Washington and hunt some bigger game.

But he wouldn't leave here until he had seen Vala again.

On the eleventh day, he finally had some luck.

He saw her come out of the mountain. He'd been keeping an eye on the entrance; he could resist the human smell fine from that distance, no matter how many of them were outside at once, such as in the mornings and evenings. He could even be in close proximity to one or two at once, he knew for sure. He never tried it with more, but the Cullens had trusted him enough to let him stay and meet Bella's father the last time he had come for a visit.

That, and he hadn't killed Vala when she'd hugged him. Daniel figured that was a good sign, when it came to his developing self-control.

Daniel ran back to where he knew she was headed, and jumped up into the branches of the more dense trees near the rock Vala had been sitting on last time he had seen her, as high as he could be without his weight bending the trunk. He hid there, waiting for Vala to get there, wondering just what he was supposed to do. He'd thought he knew, but now she was almost here…

His heart couldn't beat and his skin couldn't sweat, to tell him that he was nervous, but he knew it anyway. It was something he felt to his core that almost shook him at his bones—or whatever indestructible substance he had in their place now that passed for bones.

Why? Why did he feel this way all of a sudden? Vala was one of his friends from his old life, someone to talk to, and that was the only reason he was here. He missed all of them, but he couldn't see all of them. It was too dangerous. But the accidental meeting in the woods over a week ago had made this partial possible, almost necessary, and he was going to take what he could get. He would tell vala the truth so that she wouldn't say anything to the others, and maybe he would come to see her every now and then, so that he wouldn't feel completely disconnected.

That was all.

It had to be all. Anything else was too dangerous. There was the Cullens' past to be learned from, after all. Being associated with Edward and knowing his secret….it had put Bella in so much danger, when she was human.

He wouldn't do that to anyone.

Vala came over the rise craning her neck, already looking for him, it seemed. She walked slowly to the rock and stopped, still looking around her. She pulled her coat around her and called out.

"Daniel? Are you here?" She paused. "I know I wasn't dreaming the other day. You were here. If you're now, you will be." She sat down on the rock resolutely. "I can wait."

He fought with his feelings, with his doubts. Was he doing the right thing?

Vala had been silent for a long moment. "Please," she said more quietly, and this time he heard the pain in her voice. "Please come back."

That was when he realized what he had done to her by running away.

Daniel swallowed hard and dropped from the tree.

Vala jumped to her feet in surprise at the sound. Her eyes widened when she saw him there, at the base of the tree where he hadn't been a moment ago. She glanced up, then, down, then up again, and finally looked back at him, obviously trying to process where he had come from. Her eyes grew wider as she seemed to figure it out.

"Daniel—"

She took a quick step forward as if to run to him, but he put out a hand out.

"Wait."

She stopped short, and he could see now that her eyes were damp. "What?"

"Let me come to you. I want to be careful; I don't want to…hurt you…"

"What?" she said again.

Slowly he closed half of the distance, and took a breath. When he was sure that her scent wasn't going to make him do anything stupid before he could stop it, sure that he could safely be here and talk to her, he stopped and smiled sadly. "You might want to hear a little more before you decide if you want me any closer," he explained.

Vala let out a pent up breath and almost laughed as a tear slipped out and trickled down her cheek. "Daniel, that's ridiculous. I'm just glad you're alive. But I would like to know why you've been hiding from us—" Her breath caught at the end of the sentence, and she bit back a sob.

Daniel winced at the pang that gripped his chest at that. "I'm sorry. I didn't want to…but you'll understand once I can explain. I hope."

She wiped away the tear and tried to smile. "Okay. What, then? What would have made you do that?"

"I had to do it to keep you safe—all of you."

"What could be so dangerous that it would keep you from us?" she scoffed.

He sighed. "Please, just let me explain."

Vala looked at him for a long moment, and then sat down on the rock again. "Fine. Explain."

In the past week he'd run a thousand scenarios through his mind, trying to figure out how he would tell her, but he had no idea which one to use. His eyes closed for a moment, and he pulled himself together and took another couple of steps forward. When he open his eyes again, he held his arms out wide.

"I'm different now. I guess you've noticed."

At first he thought it strangely that she smiled mischievously at that, but then he remembered that she was Vala. "Yes, and except for the cold skin and the eyes, it's mostly for the better." The flirtatious grin disappeared. "I miss your eyes."

Yet another reminder that he would never be who he had been. If he could have cried, Daniel's vision would have been blurring at that. He let out a breath that came out sounding more like a sob.

"What is it?" Vala asked, suddenly concern. His eyes closed tightly in pain. He had hurt all of them by being gone for so long, and here she was worried for him because of one small reaction. He didn't deserve it.

"Vala…I'm not human anymore," he said, his voice as strangled as was probably possible in this type of body.

There was a short silence. "That's already rather obvious," Vala said quietly then. "So what happened?"

He opened his eyes again, but he stared at the ground. He watched a few ants crawling by with their booty, and he could bee every one of them as clearly as if they were the size or roaches.

"What dragged me off that day we were out here…it wasn't the escaped alien animal we were looking for."

"Of course not. I hardly think an overgrown rabbit-like creature with hooves could have harmed you. Besides, another search team found it the next day, dead." She paused. "While we were looking for you."

Daniel looked up suddenly. "How did it die?"

"There was a bite mark on its neck; I'm not sure what around here could have hunted down _that _thing without superior intelligence, as large and fast as it was…"

"It was probably the same thing that attacked me," he said dryly. "And it wasn't an animal; it did have superior intelligence.

Vala frowned in confusion. All right, so what was that?" He hesitated, and she huffed loudly. "Daniel, I've seen plenty of strange things in my lifetime; I'm not even _from_ this planet though most of its people still think they're alone in the universe. I think I can handle whatever it is you have to tell me."

She was right, of course. She might not believe him at first, but there was only one way to tell her. He took a breath and let it out.

"It was a vampire."


	4. Chapter 4

See, didn't I tell you I'd get this one to you quickly? :) lol Anyway, here ya go; can't wait to hear from you! Thanks!

Chapter 4

Vala stared at Daniel for a long moment. "A what?"

"A vampire," he said, almost apologetically.

"No, I heard what you said." Her face twisted into a frown. "But…I don't understand. I thought a vampire was some mythical creature featured only in stories on this planet—possibly a result of stories about the Wraith circulating from the Ancients that came back here from Atlantis millennia ago. That's what I've heard, anyway."

He shrugged a little, and she still couldn't get over how perfect his every movement looked. "Well, that may still be true; the legends are so diverse that it would make sense if they had more than one source. But the truth is that one of those sources really is native to earth, and that those creatures really do, well…survive on blood," he grimaced.

Vala blinked a few times. "But that would mean—"

"That there are people who are killed by them? Yes, unfortunately," he sighed. "But we don't contribute to that," he quickly added.

"Who is _we_?" She was asking purely for the information, to process this fact that the legends of these fearsome creatures she had seen in Earth media were real. She refused to yet make any connection in her mind to Daniel. She asked this question uncomfortably, not _wanting_ to make a connection yet.

Daniel appeared just as uncomfortable with the subject as he. "The family I live with now…of vampires. They don't harm humans. They're…vegetarians, to put it simply. They only feed on animals. We do. I…do…" He looked away, grimacing again, as if he still didn't like it and was afraid she wouldn't either.

There was temporary revulsion. Her stomach turned once as her mind slowly made the connection. But she forced herself to focus on the positive part; only animals…It helped some, but she had looked to the ground, and she was still staring at it.

"What happened _exactly_?" she asked again.

Vala heard him sigh. "I was attacked by another one…a nomad vampire, they tell me it probably was. That means it was a typical one, looking for humans. We were perfect targets, split up in the woods looking for that escaped animal. It…it would have killed me and come after you if Bella and Edward Cullen hadn't been in the area too."

"Who?"

"They're a couple…part of the family I live with. We live in Washington, actually—the state, not where the capitol of this country is. They were taking a longer trip to hunt than usual; actually, I think they were really on some kind of second honeymoon, but they were passing through, and stopped the other vampire before I lost too much blood. Edward ran it off; it wanted an easy meal, not a fight," he winced.

They were both silent for a moment or so, and then Vala put two and two together. Her fists clenched at her sides. "But it was still too late—wasn't it?"

He nodded. "They couldn't do anything else for me but bring me somewhere safe while I changed," he said quietly, and shuddered. He looked away, pacing to the nearest tree to hide his face. "I understand if you don't really believe me. I didn't believe it the first time, and I had just woken up as one."

Vala swallowed. "No…I believe you." She wasn't sure how, but it everything he had said so far fit into what she had seen, what she had heard….She didn't want to believe it, but looking at him now she had no choice. Only something so drastic could explain the visible changes in him. Her arms came up and crossed tightly over her chest.

"But I still don't understand why you never came back."

She could see his pained expression even from the side. "If I had run into you or anyone else much before now, I would have killed them before I could think twice," he whispered, resigned.

She felt a pang in her chest for him, but she pushed past it and questioned again. "You could have called."

"No, I couldn't have," he said, and turned back to her. "If I had called, you would have known I was alive, and you all would have wanted an explanation, and that was something I couldn't give."

"But you just gave me one."

"Because you had already seen me! I hated it just as much as you, but I hadn't run into you last week, you never would have seen me again. I'm sorry…but that was how it had to be. You don't understand…no one can know that vampires…that we exist," he said slowly, visibly taking pain in including himself.

"It puts people in danger," he said quietly. "There's a…hierarchy, of vampires, in Italy. They're called the Volturi. They're the ones that make sure the secret is kept. I couldn't let anyone I had known before I changed see me again because they would know I was different. They—you would figure it out eventually, and that would be dangerous." He eyes grew frightened. "The Volturi kill humans who know the truth."

Vala's mouth gaped open. "Then why…"

Daniel started to pace in frustration. "I had to tell you now, because I know you would have eventually told the others what you'd seen, and all of you would have combed the planet for me again. Yes, I know you were looking for me before," added quickly as her mouth opened. "The Cullens have connections, gained over many more years of life than either of us have. They don't know about the stargate, but they knew the military was looking for me."

He sighed. "But I had to tell you the truth, because I know you know when you're being lied to. You wouldn't have left it alone. I had to tell you to protect you—so you would know that you can't say anything."

"Nothing?" she asked incredulously. "What about the others? Sam, Cameron, and Teal'c, at least? All right, maybe Carolyn and Landry, too, but just them…"

"No," he snapped, and she jumped. She was going to protest before he continued, and his beautiful voice came out broken. "They can't know—not anything. It's much safer than way."

Vala swallowed hard and took a few steps closer. "Daniel…"

He didn't answer, just stared at the ground, fists clenched tightly, jaw working back and forth.

She couldn't quite process all of it. She knew part of her was still in shock, but she couldn't just let him stand there and be miserable. He had been her best friend for more than three years. She had lost him, and now she had him back after another horrible year, even if he wasn't the same.

He was still Daniel.

Vala stepped forward again, and she was standing right in front of him. She managed to tear her eyes from his perfect face, and slowly she reached for his hands. She squeezed them gently, forcing herself not to pull back from the sudden cold that his skin sent through her.

"It's not your fault," she told him softly, looking up into his face again.

His eyes, with their strange new amber color, came up to meet hers. Vala couldn't take the sorrow in them for long, and in a second her arms her wrapped around him in a comforting embrace, and she was glad for the black fake-fur lined winter coat she had worn out this time. She could still sense the cold from his body even through that, but she wouldn't let go.

It took a long minute before Daniel returned the embrace, gingerly. She imagined there were several reasons for that which she wouldn't want to argue with, so she said nothing. After another moment or so Daniel politely took her arms and pulled her away from his body.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I can't do that for long…not yet."

"Oh…right. I'm sorry."

He shook his head once. "No…it's all right. Thank you."

She looked for that small smile of his, which usually would have accompanied such a sheepish statement, but it never appeared. Her heart sank for some inexplicable reason. Was it that he seemed less like himself without it? Was it a sense of normalcy she was looking for?

Would there ever be any sense of normal with Daniel? If she ever even saw him again? The thought sent a spike of panic through her heart, and she was glad she at least still had hold of his hands to squeeze. She tried to distract her mind some other way along with it, and gave him a quick once-over.

"You're not dressed like you," she said, taking in the khaki pants, the collared shirt, and the leather shoes.

"Your hair is straight," he shot back. "And it has brown highlights again—like when I met you, but more of them. Why?"

Touché.

"Do I have to report to you every time I want to change my hair? It was straight when you met me," she huffed.

He let go of her hands and raised a finger. "But never since you came back from the Ori galaxy."

They were quickly falling into their old way of arguing, and Vala didn't want them to be angry at each other in any at all after so long not seeing him, but to some degree the normalcy of it was comforting enough that she couldn't bring herself to stop.

"Well…it was the humidity there, and the primitive hair products. They put the volume into it. But then I found out that it…sort of made people react to me a little less harshly," she said uncomfortably. _It looked more innocent, and I thought you would like me better that way. _"That's why I kept the look after I was back here."

"But why not anymore."

"Everyone here knows me. I don't have to make impressions anymore."

"Is that all?"

She couldn't bear to lie to him now. "There was no point after you were gone."

Maybe he was expecting it, she guessed from his question to gain that answer, but he wasn't ready for it, and it was obvious he had read the subtext in her answers. He looked away.

"What about your clothes?" she pressed.

"One of the other Cullens—Alice. She's brilliant, but she also acts something like the fashion police. She'll rarely let anyone leave the house in anything she doesn't approve of."

"It looks good."

"Thanks."

Silence.

"Your…your hair looks good too."

"Thank you."

Silence again.

It took longer this time, before either of them spoke.

"So what now?" Vala asked finally, arms crossed again.

"I…should go. The longer we're here the more likely it is that someone will see us," Daniel said.

"Will I see you again?" she asked then, heart jumping into her throat.

He looked at her sadly. "I don't think it would be a good idea. It's better for everyone if I just stay away; it might still be a good idea for you to forget you ever saw me. I still can't come back—ever. I'm sorry."

He started to turn away, and her stomach fluttered in panic. "B-but you could just come every now and then, just so I could see you. You can't just leave…not now that I know you're alive."

"What choice do I have?"

"We could meet somewhere else…not outside, where no one would see us. That wouldn't be dangerous, right?"

Daniel suddenly looked like he was thinking about it. "Maybe not…but where?"

Vala wracked her brain. "Your house," she spit out. "We never did figure out what exactly happened to you, obviously, so it's still there. All of your things are still there. It's padlocked and waiting for you…if you were to ever come back," she told him.

He seemed a little surprised by that, but he got over it quickly. "I…I don't know. I don't want to put you in danger."

"You just said that wouldn't be as dangerous!"

"But there's always the chance—"

Suddenly she was more angry than she'd been all week. "God, Daniel, you've always been stubborn, but I would have thought you would at least understand that I don't _care_ about that part!"

His eyes wentwide, and he didn't have a chance to react before she stepped up to him again, grabbed his shoulders, and firmly pressed her lips to his.

Daniel made a strangled sound and pushed her away, too hard. She stumbled backward and landed on her rear end.

"What are you doing! Do you _want_ me to lose control and kill you!" he shouted, and his eyes were wide, focused on her on the ground. "You can't put yourself in danger like that!"

"I was _trying_ to illustrate the fact that danger means nothing to me after the life I've had," she shouted back, jumping to her feet.

He glared. "I understand that, thank you, but _you_ need to understand that I don't want you putting yourself in danger because of _me_!"

"Why not?!"

"Because I love you!" he screamed.

"Well I love you too! I always have!"

Both of them fell silent, still glaring, Vala heaving in heavy breaths pushed by adrenaline. Slowly, the furious expression on Daniel's face melted away, and she felt her own expression shifting gradually from angry to incredulous.

"What just happened?" he questioned, voice barely above a whisper.

Vala's mouth opened, but nothing came out at first. It took a minute or two to force out the response. "I think...that we just figured out why we used to argue so much. That is…if you felt that way then."

Daniel took a deep breath. "I don't really know…what I felt then. I—" he cut off and spun away from her, fists clenched again. "I'm sorry I pushed you."

"It's all right. You're a lot stronger than you used to be, aren't you?"

"All of us have that, and speed, heightened senses…" He trailed off, looking at his pale arms.

"Right. Well…I suppose everyone you've been around recently has been just as strong as you. You're not used to the strength, versus human strength…."

He shrugged wordlessly, his back still to her.

Vala went to him again, and carefully put a hand on his shoulder. "Daniel…"

Slowly he turned around. "Look, I've been gone for more than a year. I don't know…" He reached toward her face, but then pulled his back. "Just give me some time, all right?"

Her hand drifted down from his shoulder and took one of his hands, but her eyes never left his. "All right."

"I do need to go now," he said then. "But I'll be back. Can you drive?"

"No."

"All right. Then we'll meet here. I can get you to my house from here."

"When?"

Daniel winced. "It can't be too often, or both the Cullens and the others here might get suspicious."

He'd used the word 'often.' He was going to come on a regular basis…for now. Her heart fluttered, and Vala wondered when she'd forgotten just how strongly she had felt for him—why she had ever tried to deny it to herself.

"Right."

"Okay…two weeks from today then. I'll meet you here at this time. I'm not sure what we're going to do, but…"

She smiled. "It's all right."

Daniel smiled a bit, and reached behind her head with his free hand. With one deft movement, he'd pulled the elastic band out of her hair and pocketed it, bringing a surprised gasp from her. His grin spread. "There's no reason to do that anymore, is there?"

Vala glanced down at her shoulders as her hair fell forward. She couldn't remember the last time she had let it free—at least not since they had thought Daniel was dead. "I…I suppose not." How could she disagree with someone so beautiful? And it was Daniel—back after more than a year. He could have her hair any way he wanted it.

"Do we have to wait so long?" she asked softly. Two weeks was too long.

He looked sad suddenly. "Vala, I have no idea where this is going. All I know is that you're right; you know about me now, so I can't just walk away and never come back. That option disintegrated last week when you saw me."

In other words, they couldn't rush into _anything_—especially not in this situation. He was probably right. They both needed time to think about this. That was what he was saying.

She sighed. "Okay. Just make sure you're here then."

He nodded once, and then gave her a long look. "Goodbye."

This time he actually let her answer. "Bye."

He was at the edge of a thick stand of trees before she could blink, and then he jumped once, and he was gone.

Vala shivered and slowly sank onto the edge of the rock that was still behind her somewhere. She had to back up and check a few times before she found it and sat, shakily. As she brought her arms up around her body she realized that the shivering wasn't only from the cold.

Her mind felt as if a whirlwind had blown in and out again, giving her no time to collect anything—much less her wits.

* * *

Daniel stopped no more than a mile away, on the strong lower branch of a tree, and leaned back against the thick trunk. He could still smell her from here. With this body there was no involuntary shaking, but everything inside him trembled. Even though he didn't really need the air, he gasped for breath.

Every gulp of air brought her human scent, and with it came the burning in his throat that urged him to feed, to hunt…but he stubbornly pushed it aside again. He could hunt in a few hours, when he got back to Washington.

But he wasn't shaking because he was thirsty. It didn't do that.

So what was it then?

* * *

Cameron Mitchell did a double take as he passed Vala in the corridor. She was dressed in civilian clothing and a coat, as if she'd just come from outside. That much wasn't unusual these days.

But her hair was down.

"Hey, Vala…"

She turned around. "Hmm?"

"Are you ok?"

Vala raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

Apparently she wasn't going to take the bait. Cam shrugged. "Nothing. No reason. You've just been distracted recently."

She shrugged. "Honestly, Cameron, I'm perfectly fine." She gave him that little smirk, the one they hadn't seen much of lately, and she passed him and went on to her room.

Cameron stared after her for a moment. "Huh."


	5. Chapter 5

I love this story so much! That's good for ya'll, because I get the chapters out quicker. ;) So here's this one, and I can't wait to hear what you think! As usual. Oh, and if you're reading Left Behind: SG-1, just so you know, I updated it yesterday. No-one has reviewed the chapter yet, which is rather discouraging...Anyway, enjoy this one! Thanks!

Chapter 5

Vala was out of bed earlier than usual the next day, even though SG-1 wasn't scheduled to go anywhere. In fact, it was Saturday. Sam and Cameron would be at home, but that was all right.

She dressed, grabbed a quick breakfast in the commissary, and then went to find Teal'c. Not surprisingly, he was still in his room.

"Morning, Muscles!" she said brightly, once he had told her to enter in that booming deep voice of his.

Teal'c nodded. "Vala MalDoran. Are you well this morning?" If he even noticed that her hair was down, he didn't say anything. But that was why she liked him; he didn't make a big deal out of things.

"Oh, I'm fine. Why does everyone keep asking me that?"

"You have not seemed well."

The jaffa was seated in his desk chair, so Vala sighed and dropped onto the edge of the bed. "Really, I'm fine now. It was a phase. So do you mind if I ask you a favor?"

Teal'c raised an eyebrow. "I suppose that I do not mind."

"Good!" She leaned forward excitedly. "Could you teach me how to drive?"

There was a moment of silence. "Is there a reason for this sudden interest?"

She shook her head. "No, no, not really," she lied. "I just decided that it would be a good idea to learn if I'm going to stay here." She hesitated. "Before, I…I wasn't really sure if I wanted to stay here permanently, after…"

Teal'c nodded once to tell her that he understood; she didn't have to finish. Vala sighed. "Right, well, anyway, could you do that?"

"I suppose that I could." He glanced at the digital clock on the bedside table. "Today is Saturday. I suppose you took that into account when you considered posing this question today?"

"Exactly."

Teal'c smiled. "Very well."

* * *

"You are not entirely unpracticed in this," Teal'c observed. They were in his SUV, driving around the back of the SGC section of the Cheyenne Mountain employee parking lot. Not that it was marked as such, of course; on the contrary, up here it was labeled as the lot of the employees of the 'deep space telemetry' lab that was supposedly stationed under NORAD.

Vala got a kick out of that.

She brought the vehicle to a bit of a jerky stop and shrugged. "When I'm shopping with Sam we stop at the arcade sometimes, so I already had the basic idea."

"I see. You are doing quite well for a beginner."

"Great," she smiled. "Sow how long did it take you to get it right?"

"Approximately four and a half hours."

She punched his arm. "Show-off."

"It was you who inquired," he answered with that small smile.

"I suppose," she sighed. She sank down in the seat. "So who taught you?"

The smile froze, and became more of a sad expression than anything. "It was Daniel Jackson, while SG-1 was trapped in the year 1969."

"Oh…I heard about that." She didn't know what else to say to that. Her heart ached for the fact that she couldn't tell her friends the one simple fact that would stop their pain. She knew it hurt Daniel too, but that didn't make her feel any better.

Teal'c suddenly sat straighter. "Shall we try again?"

Vala sat up slowly. "I suppose so. In my position, how would I go about getting a license for use on this planet anyway?"

"We will inform General Landry when you have gained sufficient skill as a driver. He may or may not wish to observe for himself, and then he will see to it that the license is procured."

"Is that what General Hammond or whoever he was did for you?"

"Indeed."

"You all told me he was that bald man in charge on the _Prometheus_ when I hijacked it, right?"

Teal'c smirked now. "Indeed."

"Hmm. Ooops."

* * *

Vala practiced driving with Teal'c a while longer, before Sam called her cell phone looking for her, and asked if she wanted to be picked up so they could go shopping. Vala recognized it as a typical Carter ploy to cheer her up, but she didn't mind. After all, she was already cheered up. She might as well go anyway to thank her friend for thinking of her. Besides, she would need something new to wear in a couple of weeks…

She and Teal'c had to stop driving so she could go inside to get her purse, and then she thanked the jaffa and went up to wait for Sam.

"Hey," she grinned, when she slipped into the front seat of Sam's car when she pulled up.

Sam blinked at her, probably taking in the fact that her hair was still down, and she was happy. "Good morning to you too," she said finally. "You sure are in a good mood this morning."

"Why wouldn't I be?" Vala shrugged.

Sam looked like she was going to let that go, but then she let go of the steering wheel and turned to face her. She sighed. "I guess I have to admit I was worried about you. Something's been bothering you lately."

"It was nothing more than what's been bothering all of us," she said quietly. "Really Sam, I'm fine." She smiled, "I guess that knock on the head a couple of days ago did me some good."

Sam winced. "Yeah, how _is_ your head?"

"Well it only needed a couple of stitches, remember? Nothing serious." She reached up under her long bangs to carefully feel for them. "I never can remember exactly where they are…" Her fingers brushed something. "Nope, ow, there they are." Vala pulled her hair out of the way to show her friend. "See? No infection. I'll be fine." She let her hair drop. "Now come on, I need some new clothes."

Sam chuckled. "Okay, okay. Mall, here we come."

* * *

"Yes!"

Sam slapped the steering-wheel replica in front of her "No! Oh, come on!" She whirled to face her friend sitting beside her. "I can't believe you just beat me."

Vala grinned innocently. "I've been practicing. Teal'c was teaching me how to drive this morning."

"Oh, that's sneaky," Sam smirked. She pointed to the game screen. "Want to go again?"

"Two out of three, or three out of five?"

"Oh, definitely out of five."

"You're on."

* * *

Daniel had no idea what he was supposed to do when he met Vala in a couple of weeks. Where was this going, anyway? He hadn't been lying…when he'd said what he'd said. The more he thought about it, he realized that it was true.

But due to circumstances, there were a limited number of things they could do, and browsing the internet aimlessly wasn't getting him anywhere.

Here there were useless human first-date suggestions, here there were numerous vampire legends that he had already seen, including gruesome and never really satisfying supposed accounts of relations between vampires and humans…All of them were wrong; none of the humans who put stories on these websites knew the true nature of the 'mythical' creatures they were talking about.

He wasn't really looking for anything in particular—it was more boredom than anything—but there was the lingering thought that maybe, by some chance, he would run across something that would give him some kind of clue into what was happening to him.

Like maybe what was making him crazy enough to think that maybe he could have any kind of relationship with Vala. She was human, and these were not the same circumstances Edward and Bella had been under. Nothing could really work out in the end…right?

* * *

Shopping gave Vala time to think and wonder, and by the time Sam dropped her back off at the SGC with her purchases, she couldn't help but go straight to the computer in her room. She had seen a few vampire movies in her time on Earth, but that was her only source of information about them, besides what few things Daniel had said. Curiosity raging, she typed the word into the first search engine she came across.

"Oh…bother."

Everything she came across was negative. Vampires were exhaustively old legends, evil creatures, killers who sucked the blood out of living victims. They were the living dead, so said the internet. It was true that Daniel had said there were bad vampires out there…But she wanted to know more about the type of vampires he was living with. What had he said? They were 'vegetarians' who only drank animal blood?

Interesting concept. Though even that made her shudder when she put it in the context of Daniel. It was the part she refused to think about.

None of the listings Vala came across on the internet included everything she knew about Daniel's physical state now. He had mentioned heightened senses, and the speed and strength she had witnessed for herself along with the pale, cold, hard skin, and the physical beauty…Now that she thought about nit, that part made plenty of sense. It was probably a perfect device for luring human prey, for those vampires that did that.

Vala sighed. "Daniel, what have you gotten yourself into this time?"

* * *

Cameron grinned sheepishly when Sam answered her front door. He held out a single rose in a plastic wrap he'd had to buy hurriedly at a corner store on his way over. "Sorry I'm late?"

Her face was all scorn and annoyance for no more than five seconds before her mouth split into a grin. "Get in here, you big oaf."

Cam chuckled and stepped inside. Sam took the flower and shut the door behind him. She gave the rose a sniff, and that was when he realized that he hadn't pulled off the small price sticker.

"Ahmm…" He tried to grab it before she could turn the flower around, but he was too late. She saw it anyway.

"Hmm. You're late and you only spend three dollars? You'll have to do better next time, Colonel Mitchell," she teased.

Cameron slapped his forehead I embarrassment. "It _would_ be just my luck that the day I'm supposed to help you cook dinner the sink at my apartment starts leaking."

"My handyman," she smirked.

"Not so much, really. It took me all day just to fix _that_."

Sam lead him back toward the kitchen, where the tempting smell of good food must have been coming from. "Speaking of fixing things, dinner is done."

"I kinda figured. Sorry."

"It's okay." She turned and kissed his cheek, then went to find a vase. She pulled a slender clear one from a top shelf, and Cameron turned the water on for her and leaned back against the counter.

"So what do _you_ do today?"

Sam ran some water in the vase, he turned the tap off again for her, and she slid the rose into the vase and set it in the middle of her kitchen island next to the dish of meat. That brought his attention to the food.

"Oo! Salisbury steak. Now I really feel bad. I'm late, but you made my favorite."

"Good," she smirked. "And as for me, I went shopping with Vala today."

Cameron went to stick a finger in the sauce around the meat, but Sam slapped his hand away. "Ow! Okay, okay, sorry. So uh…I guess you guys had more fun today than I did, huh?"

Sam crossed her arms and frowned just a little. "Actually, yes."

"Was her hair down?"

She seemed understandably surprised by the question. "Yeah. We haven't seen that in months."

"I know, but it was down last night, too."

"What do you mean?"

"Okay, you know how she goes out in the woods sometimes?"

Sam nodded. "Yea, I know. It's another reason I worry about her."

"Yeah, me too. Anyway, on my way out last night I passed her coming in, and her hair was down. Again, that's the first time we've seen it down since the day Daniel disappeared. " There was a long moment of thoughtful silence. "Maybe…maybe she's just the first of us to really be moving on," he said quietly.

She pressed a hand to her mouth. "Maybe," she choked.

"Whoa, Sam?" Quiet tears trailed down her cheeks, and Cameron pulled her into a gentle embrace. "I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault," she gulped, shaking her head against his chest. He knew what she meant; this just happened sometimes. _It was bad the first time, but not this bad,_ she had told him months ago, after a breakdown. That time, he had cried with her, even if it was only silent tears. _We knew where he was then_.

Cam held onto her, and kissed the top her head. _We'll get through this,_ he'd said then. He still meant it.

Sam turned around in his arms. "I just…I don't understand. I know she loved him," she muttered.

He glanced at her. "Wait, you mean—?" She nodded. "Yeah…I kinda figured that too." He paused. "Maybe that's why she can let him go."

After a moment she stepped away from him and wiped at her eyes. "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," he said easily, and one of his hands was still on her arm. "You okay?"

Sam dried her face and smiled at him thankfully. "I'll be fine." She motioned to the meat that was getting cold. "Come on; we're supposed to be having dinner, remember?"

"Mmm, dinner."

She wrapped her arms around his waist. "I didn't tell you the rest, either. I made you some macaroons."

He groaned. "Aww, Sam you still hate those things. You went all out in the lets-make-Cam feel-horrible-for-being-late department, didn't you?"

"Of course. But don't worry; there's ice cream for me. You can have some too if you want while we watch the movies I rented."

"Now I'm curious. What'd you get this time."

The grin slipped enough for him to see the amusement-tinged sadness in her eyes. "Indiana Jones."

Cam sighed and leaned in to give her a good kiss. "We can throw popcorn at the screen for him."

"I'll throw the macaroons you don't eat."

He laughed. "Come on; time for dinner."


	6. Chapter 6

Wow, got busy this week. I'm sorry I haven't updated LB:SG-1 or RU again yet, I just need to find time where those chapters will come more easily and let me write them--which is hard when I have almost no time at all, and _this_ weekend I have a wedding in the family to go to, including all the rehearsal stuff the day before, which is tomorrow. Oi. Well, I mean its still a good thing, it just takes time. Anyway, I'll shut up now and let you read a chapter. Please review. :) Thanks; have a great weekend!

Chapter 6

"_I can't believe we have to postpone our next mission to look for a _rabbit_," Vala huffed loudly._

_"Well, you know, we might find it more quickly if you weren't so loud," Daniel scowled. She sighed and brought her voice down._

_"Sorry."_

_Daniel shrugged, and she caught the wince that accompanied it. "I'm not necessarily happy about this either, but we have to make sure no-one sees it."_

_Vala nodded silently, and they walked on quietly for several minutes. She kept a close eye on Daniel as much as she did on the forest floor; he was still making faces when he turned or bent too much._

_"How are you feeling?" she asked finally._

_He straightened. "What? Oh…" He rubbed at his chest subconsciously. "I'm fine. Doctor Lam let me out of the infirmary, didn't she?"_

_Vala crossed her arms. "That doesn't mean you're completely healed."_

_"Well obviously it's going to take a while. I almost got fried to a crisp by that Ancient whatever-it-was."_

_She snorted derisively. "Because of _course_ you couldn't go to _Atlantis _even once without being captured by aliens and nearly killed." _

_"The nearly killed part wasn't their fault," he pointed out._

_"Oh, and that's supposed it make it so much better?"_

_"Is there a point to this conversation?"_

_Vala hesitated. "I'm not really sure. I just…wanted to be sure you were all right."_

_Daniel stopped at that, and for a long moment he wouldn't look at her. Finally, he faced her with a small smile. "I'm just sore, really; I'm fine. Thanks for asking."_

_Vala blinked at him for a moment. What? It was nice, but that wasn't like him at all. Sure, it seemed like he'd had to stop and think to make himself say it…but he'd done it. She couldn't figure out why. Had yet another brush with death actually made him think about a few things?_

_"You're welcome," she said quietly, and smiled back. _

_It didn't take long for Daniel to turn around again and keep walking. "Come on; I think there's a clearing up here." She sighed and followed him._

_It wasn't a clearing exactly—just a gap in the trees that was a little bit bigger than usual. There was no break in the canopy of foliage above their heads, and a boulder sat beneath the trees. Vala stood in one spot and turned around slowly, looking for any sign of the escaped creature they were looking for. She hoping to see footprints, a rustles in the bushes, maybe…_

_She didn't expect the pained human scream from behind her. _

_Vala spun back to where see had last seen Daniel, but he was gone. The bushes near where he had been standing were just barely moving, as if falling back into place from someone pushing through them quickly—much too quickly. _

_"D-Daniel?" She went to where he had been, and peered past the trees. She couldn't see anything but more woods. "Daniel?" Hands shaking, she keyed her radio. "Daniel, where did you go?" Nothing. "Daniel, can you hear me? Daniel!" _

_A horrible sense of dread settled over her, though she didn't know why. She didn't want to think about why. "Daniel!" she shouted, spinning frantically in her place. "Daniel, where are you! DANIEL!" _

Vala jerked awake to the sound of a screaming alarm clock, beeping angrily at her from the nightstand. She slapped it into silence and fell back against her pillows. It was only in the last year that she'd begun to use the alarm feature regularly—to save her from her nightmares.

Even after everything she had been through, it wasn't until Daniel had disappeared that they had become unbearable.

She swallowed hard and picked up the digital clock. Vala stared at it for a long moment. Maybe they would go away soon. Daniel was back now, after all. Today she would see him.

She flipped the alarm switch off.

* * *

"Ah ah, no you don't! Let me make sure you're presentable."

Daniel stopped at Alice's voice behind him, and turned around reluctantly in the driveway. "I'm not wearing jeans."

She came to a stop next to him, near the end of the Cullens' long driveway. She cocked her head at him, looking him over closely. "Good, you remembered a jacket—you're learning fast," she nodded, seeing the coat in his hand, "And you're wearing the right clothes again for once too, but you need to tuck your shirt in. It is a button-down, after all."

"You didn't make me tuck it in last time." The parallels between his complaints and that of a schoolboy arguing with an adamant mother were not lost on him, and he couldn't help but roll his eyes.

"Last time it wasn't a date," Alice grinned, eyes twinkling.

He snorted. "It's not a date _this_ time. We're just meeting so we can see each other again…at a planned…time…" He frowned when he realized that explanation didn't differentiate it from a date at all. He could hardly use his old excuse; a vampire meeting a human woman could hardly be called two-friends-out-for-dinner. He sighed in frustration. "Whatever it is, why does it matter?"

"You should always look your best for a woman when you're planning to meet. Last time you weren't sure if you would see her. That's the difference."

He groaned. "All right, fine." He tucked the dark grey shirt into his khakis and pulled his belt a little tighter. "There. Happy?"

"Much," she smiled.

Daniel smirked a little. "Why aren't you this hard on the rest of guys?"

"They're already married," Alice answered brightly. "Now go get her."

"No more warnings?"

She looked at him for a long moment. "You don't need to be told twice. If you love her, you'll keep her safe." She tossed him something, and if he had been human he wouldn't have known what it was until he caught it and looked. Now, he saw in midair that it was her keys—in the split second it took for her to toss them and him to snatch them out of the air.

"Go in my car," she told him. "There's less chance of anyone seeing anything strange." She started to back toward the house again, and winked. "Good luck."

* * *

There was more spring in Vala's step as she hiked through the woods that morning than she remembered having in the past year combined. For once something was working out for _her_—not just for her friends. She'd lost Tomin when he left, then Daniel when he disappeared, and she hadn't seen Jacek since they'd outsmarted him on a scam and he'd run off. She'd been beginning to wonder if there was any point to anything anymore.

That wasn't the case anymore.

This time Daniel was already there when she arrived. Vala saw his back first; he was standing near the rock, waiting.

"Daniel!" She called from several yards away, but she ran instead of waving. He turned and caught her in his arms, effortlessly spinning once with her to diffuse the energy she'd run into him with.

With the strength she felt in his arms, she doubted he really needed to do that; that only made her appreciate the gesture more. Either he was trying to seem as human as possible for her, or he was that happy to see her. She'd take either answer willingly.

"Hey," he smiled.

Out of nature Vala went for his lips, but stopped when he tensed almost imperceptibly. She kissed his cheek instead. "Sorry…"

"It's okay," Daniel answered in embarrassment, looking away.

"You can put me down now," she smiled.

"What? Oh…" He gently set her feet on the ground, and took a couple of steps back. "So uhm, how are you?"

"Fine. Let's get going."

He gave her a once-over. "Not until you tell me why you're wearing a skirt."

"All right, then why is your shirt tucked in?"

Daniel winced. "Fine; we're even. Come on, I drove this time."

Vala fell into steps beside him as he led her back to wherever he had parked said vehicle. "Besides, it's only blue-jean—and it's actually a skort, I believe the strange word is. Trust me; after nine month of wearing nothing but dresses in the Ori galaxy, I'm not going back to skirts so easily," she grinned.

"I see…"

They walked in silence for a few more minutes, until she couldn't take the quiet anymore. "Isn't there a faster way to get to there?" she asked suggestively.

He looked at her quickly. "Uhm, well, I didn't know if—"

"Of course I want to try it. The road isn't really that far, anyway." She stepped up to him. "If you think you could handle having me on your back, I'd like to see how fast you _really _are," she grinned.

Daniel thought about it for a long moment, looking rather uncomfortable.

"Come on," she encouraged, and nudged him.

"All right," he relented. "But no questions if I stop."

He meant he would have to stop if her scent against him became too much. Hopefully, with the air blowing past, they wouldn't have that problem.

"Agreed," she nodded.

"Fine," he sighed, and turned around. He started to stoop down before she stopped him.

"No need for that; I've had plenty of practice." With that Vala took a couple of running steps, wrapped her arms around his neck, and jumped up. Daniel caught her legs and held her up while she got a better grip on his neck. "There, see? Not a problem."

She heard him smirking. "Do I want to _know_ why that's second nature to you?"

"Probably not," she laughed in his ear.

"I didn't think so. Hold on." He took a couple of quick steps, broke into a slow run, and then the woods around them blurred to a degree. If she hadn't grown a strong stomach over the years, it might have made her dizzy. She knew enough to about aerodynamics to keep her head close to Daniel's body, but from there she was watching the trees go past in fascination.

It didn't last as long as she would have hoped, and soon enough Daniel stopped and let her drop to the ground. "The road's right up here," he told her.

Vala glanced behind them at the woods they had just come through. "That was fun. I wish it wasn't so cloudy, though."

"If it was sunny I wouldn't be here."

She turned back to him. "What? Don't tell me it bothers you. I don't think I could handle another cliché like that," she smirked.

He shook his head and led her down a gentle slope to a small gravel lot beside a rural road. "No, it doesn't bother me at all. It just…gives vampires away."

"Oh? How so?"

Daniel smiled at that. "It's hard to explain without sounding ridiculous. Maybe I'll just come long enough to show you sometime."

The only car in the lot was sleek and bright yellow, and Vala forgot her curiosity as she searched the area around them for another vehicle. She stopped looking when Daniel pulled out a set of keys and pressed a button that unlocked it. "Wait…is that really what you're driving?"

"It's not mine; Alice made me come in it," he admitted, opening the passenger-side door. She shrugged and climbed in. Daniel closed the door and was in the driver's seat beside her almost before she could blink.

"I don't know much about Earth vehicles, but if I'm not mistaken, this is a very nice car," Vala observed.

Daniel started the car and pulled out. "Did I mention that the Cullens are rich? They've had a lot more time than the rest of us to save money, and they don't have to buy a lot of things humans need, either."

"I suppose that would help. Is there anything else I should know? I don't suppose you really sleep in a coffin, either."

He shrugged. "I don't have to sleep at all anymore, actually."

Her eyebrows went up. "Really?"

"Yeah…it was kind of hard to get used to at first."

Daniel didn't seem to have much else to say yet, so Vala rolled the window down and enjoyed the rest of the ride in a comfortable silence, until he parked in the back of the lot at a small grocery store down the road from his house.

"We'll have to walk from here," he explained, getting out.

Vala shrugged and followed him out of the car. "How are we getting in when we get there?"

He pulled a small black lock out of his pocket for a moment, and then shoved it back in again. "I went by the house before I went back to Washington last time, and took a look at the locks. I bought a duplicate of the one on the cellar door so we can get in whenever we need to without leaving anything broken that might be noticed."

"Perfect," she grinned.

They walked down the street that ran behind Daniel's house instead of the one in front of it. As they did, Vala felt a sudden urge to link arms with him and pretend as if she wasn't sneaking into a locked house with a vampire. As much as she had never been normal, all of a sudden she realized that part of her wanted normalcy.

It hurt to remember that she had to resist the urge. She didn't want to push his self-control, or make him too uncomfortable…They had just found each other again, and she didn't want to scare him away. After all, maybe he was different now…but he was still Daniel beneath the physical changes.

Vala stopped when she caught sight of the cellar doors, once they had slipped between houses up to the back of his. "Well, it was a good plan while it lasted."

Daniel tensed and looked around. "What?"

"The lock. The original is still there; how are we supposed to get in and replace it if you haven't cut the first one off yet?"

"Oh, that." He relaxed. "That's easy." With that he stooped down beside the cellar doors and grabbed the lock. In once quick movement, he had pulled it off in two pieces.

Vala blinked. "Oh."

Daniel smiled, and she savored the sight that she had missed so much. "Come on," he said, and held out a hand. He opened one of the cellar doors with the other, and she took the one he was offering. He helped her down old wooden steps to the cellar floor, then dropped to the ground beside her and closed the door over them.

Vala shivered. "It's cold in here." It wasn't any better upstairs, either.

"Sorry, I'll get a couple of blankets from the closet."

"All right…" She sank onto the couch and curled up against one of the armrests, folding her arms around her coat. It was chilly outside because of the season, but it was even colder in here—probably because it had been shut up for so long. None of them had had the courage to go through anything here yet, still holding out a secret hope that he might come home.

She snapped out of her reverie when she felt something soft and heavy drape over her, and looked up to catch Daniel throwing the blankets over her. He tucked them close, and she pulled them to her gratefully. "Thanks."

"You're welcome. I'm sorry I couldn't do any more about that, but it would have raised too many flags to have the power turned back on." He winced. "I'm sorry I didn't think about it; I should have brought something portable I could run off a battery, or made a generator—"

Vala stopped him before he could beat himself up any further. "It's all right, Daniel. I'm fine." He sat in the armchair beside her place on the couch, and she reached out to touch him arm briefly. "I'm just glad to be here."

Daniel swallowed, and she pulled back.

"No, it's not you," he said quickly. There was an uncomfortable pause, and then he stood up quickly. "You know what? This shirt is coming untucked; I feel ridiculous." He pulled the shirttails out and sat down again.

"Good. I like it better that way."

He stared at her. "You have a preference."

She smirked. "I'm a woman, Daniel. Of course I do. In my opinion, the formal look isn't really you."

"Try telling Alice that."

Vala leaned a little over the side of the couch. "Yes, when am I going to meet this vampire family of yours?"

Daniel hesitated. "You can't," he said finally. "Alice is the only one that knows about you."

She frowned and sat back. "What do you mean? Why?"

"Because of the Volturri. You remember what I told you about them, don't you?"

"Of course; but I don't understand. You're friends aren't these vampire royalty."

He spoke slowly. "No, but as far as I've heard, the Volturri have _many _ways of getting information. The fewer people who know something that should be kept from them, the better."

"Oh. Brilliant."

"I'm sorry…"

Vala sat for a long moment, staring at the unmoving television and the shelves around it. "It's fine," she said finally. "It's not your fault. I suppose it doesn't matter, anyway."

More silence.

She climbed out of her seat, pulling the blankets around so they draped over her from her back and she could keep them around her. "What's that?" she asked. She pointed to a wooden statue half her height that stood next to the television shelf.

Daniel stood behind her. "Why do you ask?"

Vala glanced around curiously. "Well, I've never spent much time here, and never alone. Now that I have he chance, I might as well find out what all of these wonko little things are." She grinned back at him. "It's not as if we have much else to do this time, with no electricity. I doubt there's still any food here, either."

"Probably not," he grimaced. "I can't eat it, anyway."

"Why not?"

"It tastes like dirt."

Vala snorted in amusement. "Oh. Garlic doesn't happen to taste particularly worse, does it?"

"I wouldn't know, but I've been told that's a myth as well. Most of the popular elements of vampire legend are, actually."

She turned to look at him for a moment. "Does that mean you don't mind it so much? Besides the not coming home part?" Daniel's mouth opened a fraction, but it quickly snapped shut again. He looked away, and she could see his jaw working over something.

She wisely decided not to push the issue.

"All right, just tell me what this guy is then."

* * *

Sam had to run to catch up to Cameron in the corridor. "Hey! Have you seen Vala?"

"What?" he turned, saw it was her, and shrugged. "Not today. Why?"

"She's disappeared again."

"She's probably in the woods again."

"But she hasn't been out there in two weeks," she protested.

Cameron nodded. "And I don't think people can stop things like that cold turkey." He shoved his hands in his pockets. "You've seen her recently too, Sam; she's _fine_."

Sam crossed her arms and sighed. "I hope so."

* * *

"All right, all right, that's enough!" Vala grinned, backing away from the artifacts. "My head will explode if you give me any more information." He'd tried telling her the stories of how he'd acquired the artifacts more than telling her about the pieces themselves, and she seemed to have been more interested than usual.

"Was I boring you?"

"Not at all—yet," she smirked, and dragged him back toward the couch.

Daniel smiled. "And we're not even out of the living room yet."

"We can pick that up later, maybe. I hoping we have something more interesting to do next time though. Maybe I'll bring a picnic I can eat by myself," she pouted.

"Sorry; I'll have some kind of power source here next time. We can raid my DVD collection or something."

Vala caught his hands. "So you're coming back?"

He cocked an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't I come back?"

She shrugged. "I don't know. I suppose I was a little afraid I would scare you away," she admitted.

"Vala…if I ever left, it wouldn't be your fault."

Her hands tightened around his. "But you're not leaving, right?"

"No, of course not," he said again. "I'm not going anywhere." The eye contact they were sharing said much, but Vala didn't move. He was glad she was respecting his needs, but that wasn't what he wanted right now. Slowly, tentatively, making sure he stayed in control, Daniel leaned closer and kissed her lightly.

Almost immediately the burning in his throat grew to a roar. He had to let go of her and step away. He turned his back just as quickly, feeling something akin to shame. Behind him, Vala stood still. He heard the slight movements of her head, but he didn't feel her eyes boring into his back until long moments later.

"Daniel…is there even any point to this?"

It was open, honest, raw…and it addressed his own fears.

"I hope so," he said, and turned back to her quickly. "I want there to be."

She swallowed. "Do you really?"

"I—yes!" He stepped back up to her, took her shoulders in his hands, and pressed his mouth to hers again. This time she responded readily. The burning flared, the thirst, even though he had hunted before coming. That didn't matter; this was a human scent, so much more powerful and tantalizing than any large game.

He withstood it longer this time, but then he pulled away again, in similar fashion to before. This time he let out a frustrated growl.

"Daniel, what's wrong? What are you doing?"

"Trying to not kill you…and at the same time try to figure out why I'm falling in love with you _now_."

He was only half turned this time, and he could see her clearly through the corner of his eye. She smiled just a little.

"I don't know about you, but I liked you the moment I saw you." She paused, and her eyes grew distant. "And I fell in love with you like a schoolgirl the day you found me in that warehouse."

Daniel swallowed and faced her, knowing he wouldn't be able to see if his eyes were capable of creating tears. "I…I don't know when I fell in love with you. Whenever I did, I denied it like a teenager. I denied it until two weeks ago when I really talked to you for the first time in a year. I was trying to deny it again _today_. Part of me…part of me wants to deny it now; it would be so much easier…"

Her mouth opened, and he realized she might have taken it as an insult.

"It's not because of you. It's that I don't want to put you in danger," he added quickly, and shook his head. "I've already done that by telling you the truth."

"I thought we'd been over that. I don't care."

"I know you don't, but I do." He swallowed "If there's one thing I know for certain that I want, I want you to be safe."

Vala stared at the ground, and he wondered what he was supposed to say next. He could hear her heart beating, but the room seemed so quiet without the sound of his to join it. So much had changed in the last year. Among those things were the way both of them approached things—the way they saw things. A year ago, he never would have admitted any of this, and neither would she.

Daniel took a step closer to her again, fists clenched at his side. "Vala, I know it even seems to me like we're coming at this so fast…but now, in this state, more than ever…I realize that whether I'm immortal or not, none of us has all the time in the world. I spent too much of my life wasting time, and now that human life is gone. I was given chance after chance, and now it's gone forever."

The sudden crushing pain in his chest squeezed tighter, and he gasped even though he didn't need the air. "I don't want to make the same mistake in this life." This time it was Vala who stepped closer again. She gripped his arms lightly, and finally looked at him again. Daniel almost lost his nerve, looking her in the eyes.

"I want to try to make this work," he whispered.

"So what are you saying?" she asked quietly.

"I don't know. I just—I love you. I love you."

Vala's hands slowly drifted up to cup his face, and her eyes searched his, undoubtedly searching for confirmation of truth in the amber color that was still strange even to him. After a moment, something in her expression told him she'd found what she was looking for.

"I love you too." Cautiously, but decisively, she tilted her face in to his, but stopped there. She let him come to her, and he did it willingly. Daniel kissed her one more time; her arms wrapped around his neck, and his went around her waist. He still had to break off the lip contact after a moment or so, but he managed to stay where he was.

She grinned up at him. "Getting easier?"

"Slowly," he sighed. "Very, very slowly."

"Don't worry; we have plenty of time to work on it."


	7. Chapter 7

Here ya'll go; enjoy. :) Can't wait to hear from you, as usual! You guys are the greatest!

Chapter 7

The atmosphere between them was different as they walked back to the car, and Vala felt even happier than she had the past two weeks put together. Was that even possible? Of course it was. _He loves me!_

Daniel loved her.

After a moment of walking she felt a slight, cold touch to her hand. When she glanced his way she just caught him pulling his hand away from hers, as if he had changed his mind about something. Somehow she understood that he was worried about the cold, worried about his body temperature affecting her when it was already chilly enough outside.

Vala swallowed and slowly reached for his hand as they walked. It twitched in surprise when she took it, but he didn't pull away. After another moment or so she gently worked her fingers between his and tightened her grip. She felt his hold grow tighter too, more comfortable, and she smiled to herself.

When she ventured another glance at Daniel he was smiling too, but she looked away sheepishly when he caught her looking. Another minute passed, and she looked again. This time he was looking at the same moment, and they both grinned. There was only a block to go, and they both slowed instinctively as Vala moved closer, until their arms were touching.

This was what she had wanted on the short walk here.

This was what she had always wanted.

The drive back was made in companionable silence, and Vala wondered if that had ever happened before. Had she and Daniel ever been anywhere alone, with no tension in silence? It hadn't seemed possible before.

Vala was going to ask if they could just walk back to the rock in the woods, but when he turned his back to let her get on, she remembered that maybe he needed to get away sooner than that. She didn't want to make him uncomfortable, push his self-control, so she jumped on without a word.

This time Vala closed her eyes and rested her head against Daniel's back as he ran, enjoying the smooth movement and the rush of air over her arms and legs. She didn't even notice the cold anymore; she was too happy to care, and was disappointed again when he set her down beside the rock.

Daniel turned to face her, and must have noticed her just opening her eyes in surprise. "Were you about to go to sleep back there?" he teased lightly.

"No," she retorted. "I was just enjoying the ride. It's very soothing, actually—especially with your eyes closed."

He started to shrug, but seemed to remember something and winced instead. "I wouldn't know. The only time I was carried like that I had just been bitten and I wasn't really paying that much attention…" He trailed off as if he'd said too much, and Vala gazed at him curiously.

"Did it hurt?" she asked quietly. "When you were changing?"

He tried to hide the shudder, but it was no use. He only nodded silently, and looked away; probably because he knew she'd seen. "I have to go now. It's getting later, and I have to get the car back."

She grabbed his arm with both hands. "When will you be back?"

Daniel looked at her again now. "Will it make you happier if I tell you just one week this time?"

"Much," she grinned.

He kissed her briefly, but she didn't let go of his neck until he politely pulled her arms from around him and stepped away a few feet. Apparently that was his limit for the day.

"See you soon."

"All right," she sighed. Suddenly she felt her earlier thrill return, turning her stomach over in joyous somersaults. "I love you."

Daniel's expression softened, and the hard whiteness of his face spread into a warm glow of a smile that nearly melted her with its beauty on his perfect features.

"I love you too."

Then in the blink of an eye, he vanished again.

* * *

Cameron's hands flew up off of the foosball handles in exasperation. "Ah! Oh, come on, T, you could let me score _once_."

The jaffa smiled coolly and nodded once. "I could."

The colonel glanced around him once, then back at the game table. "Okay, you know what? You just keep playing like you do and all. I'll score. This is _my_ apartment, _my _foosball table, and I'm gonna kick your but eventually—at something."

With Teal'c's silent smirk goading him on, the two played three more games. Teal'c won all of them.

"Perhaps you should engage in more practice, Cameron Mitchell," the jaffa suggested as they dropped onto the couch with drinks.

"Yeah, maybe if I had someone else to practice _with_," Cam smirked. The expression quickly faded. "Jackson was never very good…It was a lot more fun playing _him_…Well, I mean, it's fun playing you too, but I just mean…" _I just mean I miss him. _

Teal'c nodded silently, understanding the unfinished sentence.

"It is not the same," the jaffa offered as another explanation.

Cam shook his head sadly. "No…it's not the same anymore: Not team stuff, guys' nights, missions, anything." His head dropped down onto the back of the couch. "Not even us."

Teal'c was silent for a long moment. "Are you expressing these feeling now in light of Vala MalDoran's recent change in behavior?"

Cameron looked up at his friend. "What? Oh, I don't know." Silence.

"I mean, I think we're doing just fine, dealing with it, getting back into the swing of things, and then she goes and kicks it into overdrive." Teal'c just listened. "I don't blame her or anything; heck, I'm _happy_ for her. I just can't help wondering where that leaves the rest of us."

"To follow her example," Teal'c said quietly.

"What?"

"We must follow her example, in our own way. Daniel Jackson would not wish us to lament his death for so long," Teal'c went on sadly. "It may be time that we truly accept that he has been dead for thirteen months." There were tears in the jaffa's eyes now. "We must say goodbye."

But Cameron didn't know how he could do that…when they didn't even know what had happened to him. It was what he'd been wondering for more than a year.

* * *

Daniel heard her coming before he even reached the driveway, and he knew it was because she had either heard the vehicle's engine from inside the house or known from her visions when he would be returning. He pulled off to the side of the road just short of the long driveway, and she was there a second later. Alice opened the passenger door and planted her in the seat beside him before closing it again.

"So," she grinned. "How'd it go?"

"How much do I actually have to tell you?" he smirked.

Alice held up her fingers and ticked off the things she said. "Well, I saw the running through the woods, and the kissing, and the holding hands...You two are so cute," she laughed.

Daniel was sure his face would have been red if he had blood to rush to it. "Uhm…thank you?"

She shrugged. "Anyway, just a side note: From what I did see, I could probably suggest that we start letting you out in public soon. You're doing extremely well for a relative newborn, especially when you had no preparation before you were changed."

"Good," he smiled. "Reading and ordering books online in one thing, but I'd rather spend several hours in a good old library or museum any day."

"I thought you might say that."

There was silence for a long moment.

"So is there anything you want me to tell you?" he asked eventually.

"Only if you want to, really," Alice assured him.

He thought about that. "Maybe not right now," he said quietly.

She nodded, patted his knee, and climbed out of the car. "I'll see you inside then. You know where to park the car."

Daniel nodded, his thoughts already returning to Vala as Alice shut the door again and disappeared down the driveway.

* * *

The next morning as Sam was getting off of the elevator, she caught Vala walking by in the corridor. She almost expected her friends to walk away, yet she stopped when Sam called.

"You need something?" Vala asked curiously.

Sam approached her, frowning a little. "No…not really. I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

Vala laughed as if she truly believed that were the most absurd suggestion she had ever heard. "Why wouldn't I ne all right?"

"I don't know," she blinked. "It's just that you disappeared again yesterday."

"Oh. That." Vala sighed and crossed her arms. "Sam, you don't need to worry about me." When Sam opened her mouth to protest she quickly went on. "It's hard to explain, but I think…" She took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and a thoughtful smile touched her face. "I think the mourning is over, for me. Things are different now. I know you've all noticed.

"I don't mean to push it on the rest of you, or to interfere in what you're working through." Sam almost jumped in surprised when Vala's hands came to rest comfortingly on her shoulders. "I just want you to know that I'm all right. This isn't a façade, and for once in my life, I'm telling the truth about that. I'm fine." Suddenly she hugged her. "But I'm still here for the rest of you, okay?"

Slowly Sam returned the embrace. "I…okay. Thanks."

Vala pulled back and winced, giving her a hopeful look. "I know that might not have exactly made sense, but do you understand?"

She had to laugh a little. "Not exactly. But I understand the important part—that you're all right." And she really did believe her. That revealing pain in the depths of her expression that usually gave away her lies was absent today, and it was the first time Sam had seen her without it in too long to recall.

"Really?"

"Really," Sam assured her. "I believe you, and…I think that's for the best. I'm glad you're okay." This time it was she who hugged Vala. "Eventually we'll all be all right."

She just hoped it was sooner rather than later.

* * *

Vala pulled away from Daniel's kiss to take in air, grinning, and sat back on the couch. She leaned on his shoulder, barely noticing the cold anymore—especially not through the thick blanket she was wrapped in. She still needed it when she was next to him for an extended period of time, despite the heater that was now run by a small generator he had hidden under some old tarps behind a couple of the shelves down in the cellar.

"I don't think I'll last much longer only seeing you once a week like this," she sighed. It had been about two months since their first planned meeting, and nine more times they had met in the woods for him to bring her here. Still she counted down excitedly to each meeting.

"Well what else are we supposed to do?" he asked.

"I don't know…" She snuggled closer to him, staring blankly at the flickering television screen. She had no clue what was going on in the movie that was playing. They weren't even watching it anymore. They never really did.

Daniel toyed with a lock of her hair, twisting and curling it between his fingers. She didn't see it; she only felt the slight, pleasant tug against her scalp as he did. It was something he did often now. Vala suspected that even though he wouldn't admit it, it transformation had somehow improve his mind along with the rest of his body. He seemed to be even quicker at deciphering things than before, more quick to answer even a difficult question. Perhaps with more of a mind to occupy, the absent action helped.

She liked to think he liked her hair itself too, of course.

Vala tilted her head up and kissed him again, only briefly. He had probably had enough of anything deeper for today, though she knew he would never say anything even if his thirst was getting to him. As long as he knew he was under control, he wouldn't say a word. If he was afraid of losing control, he would run away. It had only happened once, last month, when they had gotten a little too carried away. She had understood.

"Oh! I almost forgot." Grinning, she pulled a plastic-covered card from her pocket. "Look! I can drive myself here next time."

Daniel took the card and chuckled. "And of course you would have to be one to break the rules on this, too."

She snatched it back, scoffing in mock offense. "I resent that. I assure you that I did everything the correct way in getting that—or as 'correct' as it could be in my…situation."

"Oh! No no no, I didn't mean it like that," he laughed. "I was talking about your picture. Driver's license pictures are notorious for being horrible representations of their owners."

Vala glanced down at the card in her hands. "Oh? Well then." She tossed her hair back over her shoulders. "Of course I would break _that_ rule."

Daniel just smiled and pulled her farther into his arms as she put the card away. "That's my girl."

"As long as you mean that in a purely romantic fashion."

"Of course." He let her go and reached into his own pocket. "You might need this now." He handed her a single key.

She blinked at it. "Is this to the lock you put on the cellar door?"

"I had another copy made a few weeks ago when you mentioned you would have your license soon."

Vala grinned again. "You're giving me a key to your place; this is significant."

He shifted a little, uncomfortably, and raised an eyebrow at her. "Have you been watching soap operas again?"

"No," she lied defensively.

Daniel shook his head. "Anyway, that's just in case you get here before I do—or if you just need a place to come, I guess…"

She slipped the key into her pocket with her license. "Thank you," she said, and kissed his cheek. Her mind returned unbidden to his question of a few moments ago. _Well what else are we supposed to do?_ The cold she didn't feel on the outside crept into her chest. "Daniel…?"

"Hmm?"

"What you said…What else _can_ we do? If no one can know about us, and we can't even, you know, because you don't want to hurt me…then why are we doing this?" They were question she had been avoiding. The love they had found after brushing each other off for so long in the past, was something too blissful to ruin with questions about the future. She had pretended to forget the questions existed, wrapping herself in the happiness of the now. She was sure he had done the same.

Vala felt him tense beside her. "What down it matter? We love each other, don't we? So why worry about it?"

"Because we love each other," she said, sitting up. "I love you too much to pretend like the future isn't comin." Suddenly she knew it was true, too.

For a while Daniel said nothing, and then he sat up too, and turned off the TV. "I know," he said quietly. A sad smile crossed his features. "I guess I was hoping it would be a little longer before you'd remember."

Vala wrapped her arms around his neck. "Don't get me wrong; I'm not letting you go, not by a long shot. I'm not that selfless," she smiled.

Daniel chuckled and stroked her hair. "It's all right. That's just you."

"You'd better believe it." She pulled closer again. "So what are we going to do?"

He shook his head slowly, and her heart sank inexplicably. "I don't know," he said quietly. "I just don't know."


	8. Chapter 8

Hey ya'll! Vacation is slowing me down a little this week, spending time with friends and the family and all, but don't worry, I'm still working, lol. Anyway, here ya go. Can't wait to hear from you. :) Have a great Thanksgiving!

Chapter 8

Vala's smile deflated at his answer. "I was afraid you would say something like that, because I don't know either." She stood and began to pace anxiously.

"Vala…Is something else wrong?"

She swallowed, and he could hear her heart picking up a little speed. "No. It's just that. I don't know what to do. Usually when I'm with you I can only be happy…but then I go home, and I remember all over again that nothing will ever really be right again—not while you're gone."

"But I'm not gone."

She stopped and looked at him. "You know what I mean! You're still gone to _them_!"

He knew what she meant, all right. He'd been trying not to think about it. Daniel stood slowly. "You know we can't tell them the truth…"

"Then what are we supposed to do about it?" Vala pressed, and she began to pace again. "The SGC is all right in general, I suppose, though I don't think your departments are getting nearly as much done these days. None of them can read Ancient as well as you, no matter how long they work at it. Cameron doesn't talk as much as he used to, and even less since I found out about you…_Everything_ seems to have gotten worse since then."

He saw her blink back tears, and she continued to move back and forth restlessly. "When I realized I was the cause of it I tried tone it back, be more normal when I was around them…but I think they can still see that I…I'm different. Something's different, or maybe they even really do suspect that I know something they don't—I don't know. I just know that Sam does nothing but work, Cameron is strangely silent, and Teal'c…well, he's Teal'c, but I think he senses something too."

She dropped onto the far end of the couch. "I feel so guilty!" she admitted, face falling into her hands. "I don't know what I'm supposed to do! I know we have to protect them, but it hurts so much to see them like that…"

Daniel let the silence linger for a few moments, before he tried to respond to that. "Is it really that bad?" he asked finally.

Vala shrugged. "I may be reading into everything more than I should. Maybe I'm seeing things that aren't there, and maybe it's not as serious at it seems, but I know it _feels _horrible."

He stood now, and stared at his feet. "I'm sorry…it's my fault. All of this is. This whole blasted situation is my fault. I never wanted to hurt them, or you…"

"Hey. It hasn't been all bad," she reminded him, and when he looked up she was smiling a little.

"No…it hasn't," he agreed. She was still sitting, but now it was he who paced. "Do you think maybe it would help if they had some sort of closure? It's painfully obvious that's one thing that's lacking."

Vala raised an eyebrow at him. "I'm sure it _would_ help, but the problem with that is that there's no body for them to find, because you're alive—sort of—and we've already established that we can't tell them the truth."

"No…no, maybe not, but I'm sure Carlisle could com up with something, if I asked. He could fake something. But…blood. We would need blood from when I was human."

"Blood? Daniel, what are you getting at?"

"I mean, give them a body to find." He grimaced at the thought, but it was the only thing that made sense right now. Unfortunately, it would have to be something unrecognizable, small…not my body, but enough for them to be sure I was dead. I'm not sure how to do that and make it foolproof, but Carlisle would know."

She stood, arms crossed tightly. "He's a doctor, right?"

"Yes," he nodded. "I don't know why I didn't think about this before. If they weren't thinking somewhere in the back of their minds that I might be out there somewhere, somehow…then they would be able to heal." Daniel sighed heavily. "It's the least I can do now."

Vala swallowed hard. "I don't exactly like the idea by itself—making them think you're dead…but I suppose it's really the only other alternative in this situation…"

"I don't like it either," Daniel answered grimly. "But you're right: I think it's the only choice we have."

"And what about us?" she asked quietly.

He didn't want to answer that question right now. He wanted to keep her, but if he truly thought about what was best for everyone…he was afraid of what he might have to answer. "Vala, not now"

"Why not? That's the heart of this situation after all, of this problem—us." The pained look in her eyes told him she was just as afraid as he was.

"Can we fix one thing at a time?" he asked, straining to keep his voice even.

Vala looked at him for a long moment. "I suppose…"

"Good." Anxiously he paced passed her, and then turned to her again. "Can you do me a favor?"

"What could I do that you couldn't?" she asked wryly.

He sighed. "You have access to the SGC. I guess I could get in if I really wanted to, maybe, but there would be a lot less risk if you did it."

Her hands went to her hips in exasperation. "If I did _what_?"

"Blood samples," he told her. "Mine. That's not the kind of thing they would have thrown out. Any samples they ever took from me for archive reasons or otherwise would be somewhere on base, sitting in cold storage. Considering the fact that the SGC is top secret, they keep them on-site instead of elsewhere."

Vala blew out a tense breath. "You're going to bring them back to this Carlisle person so he can help you create something for someone to find?"

"Yes," he nodded. A sketchy idea of what he really had to do was forming in his mind, but he pushed most of it aside. He could only focus on this part right now, or he might lose his mind. "I think we agreed that I don't really have a choice. If you don't want to get them for me, that's fine, I'll find a way, but I thought I'd give you the option…"

"I'll do it," she said immediately. "You know I can't resist a challenge—not that this will really be much of one."

"Oh?"

She shrugged. "I think I already know where this cold storage room is. I've seen people in the infirmary going in or out of it one or twice. It isn't paid much attention to. There isn't really any extra security either, besides some fancy locking mechanism I should be able to easily bypass."

He smirked. "Of course it would never be a problem for _you_."

Vala came to him then, and wrapped her arms around his neck. When she did that he had to remember not to pay attention to _hers_…

"Maybe we'd better head back now," she murmured.

"Probably," he agreed. He quickly pulled her back gently, and gave her a brief kiss. Then he let go of her, and she seemed disappointed, but understanding.

"Right."

* * *

Vala had been right; it proved no challenge at all to slip quietly into the cold storage room that night, when there was almost no-one in the infirmary. There were no patients. A bored nurse sat at a desk near the front, and one other wondered aimlessly, straightening something here or there. It was easy to slip past them.

The small room off the back of the infirmary was chilly and filled with large medical-use freezers. The lock had posed no threat to her operation; after all, the room was already near the bottom of a carefully guarded, top secret military facility. There wasn't a security camera in the room either, and she had avoided all of the ones in the corridors and infirmary on the way here, as well. There would be no proof anywhere that she had ever gotten out of bed that night.

Everything was alphabetized, and it didn't take her long to find what she was looking for.

It also didn't take her long to realize that blood wasn't the only thing top-secret military facilities kept samples of from their employees.

_Interesting…_

Vala quickly shut down any other thoughts, and took what she had come here for.

* * *

Daniel didn't go home immediately. Instead, he did what he hadn't dared do before. He respected his friends' privacy, and had never seen them from anywhere but outside the mountain entrance. Now though, he had a reason to get past his misgivings about watching his friends.

He had to know if they were all right…or if Vala's worries meant something.

He found Cameron at Sam's house—unsurprising these days, as far as he had heard. He moved from window to window, never in one place for too long, sticking to the shadows. It was getting dark, but it wasn't yet night. Tentatively he kept an eye on them, for any signs that something was wrong.

At first it seemed as if everything were fine. They seemed comfortable together. He was glad for that, at least. Sam deserved someone like Mitchell. Daniel saw them pull out leftovers and eat at her kitchen table. The conversation was a little subdued, but he didn't really begin to worry until they curled up on the couch together. By then Daniel had decided he should leave…but then Sam cried.

It didn't seem to be something new for Cameron. Mitchell hugged her closer, silent, and let her cry. Daniel stood frozen outside the window, ignoring the rain that was beginning. Sam didn't cry long, and neither of them said a word about it. Somehow that hurt even more; it could only mean that it happened more often than he wanted to think about.

Daniel waited until Mitchell left later, and Sam went to bed. Silently he slipped into the house. She was asleep, and he stood over her for several long moments, fists clenched. He new it was dangerous to be there, if she woke…

His chest heaved with dry sobs, and he kept his mouth clenched tightly shut to mute the sound. Sam tossed and turned in her sleep, her expression troubled. "I'm sorry, Sam…I wish I could make it go away," he whispered after another moment. "All I can do is stop the wondering."

_I just hope that's enough. _

Her eyes opened.

Daniel reacted in time, and by the time Sam focused on anything he was outside the bedroom door. He heard her sit up, and glanced through a crack in the door to make sure she was all right.

"Daniel…?"

He resisted the urge to jerk away from the door, knowing that she was only reacting to what she had to believe had been a dream. Seconds later she dropped back against her pillows and pressed the heels of her palms to her eyes. "Snap out of it, Sam; he's gone…" she told herself unsteadily.

Daniel eased back from the door and leaned against the wall. His eyes slipped shut and he stood there, listening to her go back to sleep. He could hear every restless time she turned over, every muffled sob and stressed breath. It was one of those moments that he didn't appreciate the heightened senses.

It would be so easy to walk into that room and tell her the truth. It would be easy even to go in there and lie—to tell her that he had been killed, and had ascended, maybe, that after all the trouble he'd caused for them in the past, he couldn't come back again. She could tell the others; they would believe her. Then the elaborate charade he was planning to ask Carlisle to help him with wouldn't be needed. The problem with that was, would Sam believe _him_?

Probably not. It was too dangerous, besides.

He wasn't sure how long it was before he pulled himself away and walked back to Alice's car. He didn't need to find a way to get to Teal'c, or track Cameron down again. After that, he already understood the damage.

Daniel wanted to blank out the world, wanted tears to blur his vision and take his thoughts somewhere that didn't hurt so much. Instead, his vision remained crystal clear, and he couldn't forget any if it—more disadvantages of being immortal.

By the time he neared Forks, he knew he had to talk to Alice. He pulled to the side of the road just short of the driveway and waited for her. He knew she would see his decision and come to him.

Sure enough, she was there no more than a minute later, shutting the car door behind her as she slid inside. "You didn't have a good day." It wasn't a question.

He shook his head slowly, but cut right to the chase. "Alice, what kind of choices do we have in the long run? Really?"

"Daniel…"

"The honeymoon's over, Alice. I know we can't keep doing this forever, and now Vala's admitting it too. What do we do?" He sighed. "How could this end?"

She said nothing for a long time. She was staring at him, determining whether he was serious about wanting to know.

"There are only a few ways, really," Alice began quietly. "One of you could break it off for some reason or another, she could become one of us, or one or both of you could be killed by the Volturri. That's the simple version."

"What happened to the option where I stay with her throughout her human lifespan?"

Alice shook her head. "That was Edward's first choice…when he fell in love with Bella. It can't happen that way. If you stay together, the Volturri _will_ find out about her eventually."

He swallowed. "Have you seen that?" he asked.

"Yes. I haven't seen if their discovery brings danger, but as of now they will know about her in some capacity, someday."

Daniel's fist pounded the armrest.

Alice's face froze, and when she moved again she was looking to him quickly. "Daniel, what are you going to do?"

"What did you see?"

She hesitated. "I saw Vala crying."

He swallowed hard and looked away; whatever he had in place of a stomach twisted in knots. "There may not be a way to avoid that now. I have to do something."

"You're not sure exactly what you're going to do, but whatever it is will hurt her," Alice told him with concern. "I know I haven't met her, but…please…whatever you do…just think long and hard first."

"You don't have to remind me to do _that_," he snorted softly.

* * *

Vala slipped her key back into her pocket once she had the cellar door closed above her. A soft hum to one side told her that the generator was on, which meant Daniel was already here.

Halfway up the stairs she heard him pacing above her, and as soon as she was through the door and in the kitchen Daniel's arms were around her and he was kissing her

"Wow, what a greeting," she breathed when he finally let go. It had been enough that he jumped back several feet in a flash, to make sure he was under control. She began to worry when he went back to pacing. "Daniel?"

His marble-white hands scrubbed through his hair. "Vala, why do you love me?"

An alarm went off in the back of her mind. "What?"

"Why do you love me?" he repeated earnestly.

She blinked. "I…I just do—because you're you. You were the first person in my life besides my mother who really cared. You helped me become who I am now."

He took a breath. "Is that it though?"

"Are you crazy? Daniel, you know me. I wouldn't be here if I didn't love you."

"I know that! But why? I have to know why…" The uncertainty and pain in his eyes tore at her heart. What was going on that he would suddenly question her?

Vala took a step closer. "What else is there to know? I love you, and that's not going to change."

Somehow that didn't seem to help. He grimaced. "But I'm different…I'm dangerous. I not _human_."

"Yes, we established that."

"But…but I can't give you any children. I can't be with you in the first place, because I wouldn't be able to stay in control. I don't know if we can even stay together."

"What do you mean?" she asked, gulping back the sudden panic.

"We can't keep doing this forever," he said, waving his arm at the house they were in. "You were right. We can't pretend this will just last. Eventually something will have to change. The Volturri will find out eventually…Either we'll have to separate before that happens, or you would have to become one of us."

Vala crossed her arms nervously. "Don't think I haven't considered it."

"I couldn't do it," Daniel said quickly. "In the first place I'm too young; I wouldn't be able to do what needed to be done without killing you, even if I didn't already abhor the thought of turning you into this."

"What's so bad about it? Maybe the transition is painful, but what would I lose? I've done everything there is to do in this life—more than most people on this planet have ever done."

"You would lose our friends, just like I have. We couldn't tell them. You wouldn't be able to go back. Are you really ready to do that?"

Vala opened her mouth, shifted uncomfortably. "No…but it doesn't have to be right _now_."

"No, but it doesn't matter. I wouldn't do that to you."

She huffed. "All right…then what about the stargate? You keep forgetting that we have access to other planets. The Volturri don't."

"_You_ have access to other planets. I don't anymore, either. That thought came to mind for me too, but the fact is that there's no way to get me through the 'gate without telling someone the truth, which we can't do. Even if there was, we would still have the same problem—we wouldn't be able to tell anyone about me, which would ,mean no-one would know where we were, and you still wouldn't be able to see them.

Why did he always have to be so right?

"W-what if I told you that I didn't mind?"

He sighed. "Of course you mind. It would just be us, forever, whether you stay human or not. I can't give you the family you must want."

The fluttering in her stomach and the nervousness that stuck in her throat solidified into a lump. "But I love you."

"I know…" Their eyes locked and he trailed off. He came back to her, and she was in his arms again. Vala thought Daniel's kisses would calm her fears, but the anxiousness with which he kissed her only encouraged them.

"Daniel, what's wrong?" she whispered against his cheek.

"Nothing, I just…" He pulled back. "Did you get it?"

"Yes. The vials are back in the car at the market."

When she'd gotten her license approved, General Landry had seen to it that she was provided with a vehicle, seeing as she couldn't exactly buy one for herself. Not only was she completely unversed in the confusing way such things were done on Earth, but because her living expenses were taken care of by living on the base, she wasn't paid enough to buy one even if she did know how. It wasn't big, and it wasn't new, but it was a car that she could call her own for now.

"Great," he nodded. "Thank you."

"You're uhm, you're welcome. I'm sorry I didn't bring them with me; I didn't know how you wanted to go about that…" A delicate way of saying that she didn't want to make him uncomfortable.

"Thanks, but the glass should work just as well as skin. You didn't have to worry. Anyway, I'll get them myself on my way out."

"Oh. All right."

Daniel clasped her shoulders. "Thank you again. I…I can't stay today though. I have to get those samples back to Carlisle."

"Oh…" she trailed. "Are you sure?"

He hesitated. "Yeah. Sorry."

The knot of fear in her gut twisted when he stepped back gain. "Daniel, wait," she pleaded desperately.

His expression softened, and he turned back to her. His hands found her face. "Hey…you know I'll always love you, right?" His voice still sounded too strained for her liking, even as he searched her eyes, but she knew he was sincere.

"Yes. And—"

"I know," he said quietly, cutting her off before she could return the sentiment. "Just remember that. I'll _always_ love you, no matter what."

Vala wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him. Daniel's hands dropped from her face and one of them went gently to the back of her head while his other arm encircled her waist and pressed her to him. In moments his head had dipped, telling her he couldn't handle the mouth contact anymore, but she held on long after that.

Something made her afraid to let go.

This time Daniel didn't peel her off himself; that alone would have worried her.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you, too."

Finally Vala brought herself to let go, and Daniel turned for the cellar door. He looked back and smiled tentatively at her, and then he was gone.

By the time she walked back to her car, the vials were indeed missing. She sighed and drove home.

* * *

Daniel sobbed most of the way back to Washington, gripping the steering wheel so tightly he had to focus on not snapping it into pieces. With no tears to give him the release he wanted, his chest felt sore by the time he pulled into the Cullens' driveway.

He hadn't thought that was possible.

He carefully composed himself before getting out of the car, schooling his thoughts as well. Gently clutching the two small vials of blood in his hand to cover the scent as well as he could, he went inside.

Emmet and Jasper were on the couch watching a game, and Renesmee was in the back yard playing ball with Jacob Black—the family friend who happened to be a werewolf. Well, he and his kind were closer to shapeshifters, as they could change at will and were completely lucid when in wolf form, and there was more to his relationship with the Cullens than a long friendship, but even Daniel didn't know all of the details.

None of the others were anywhere to be seen, but he could hear some of them upstairs. Either way, he was able to slip into Carlisle's office relatively unnoticed. The doctor was at his desk, scrolling through something on his computer screen. He looked up before Daniel said a word.

"Daniel…you're back." He frowned in concern. "Is something wrong?"

Daniel approached the desk slowly, taking a deep breath. "I uh…You, all of you, have given me so much, helped me, and I hope that someday I can repay you somehow, but right now, I…I really need to ask a favor of you, if I may."

Carlisle straightened attentively. "Of course."

* * *

Vala woke in a cold sweat, and realized it was already the middle of the night. She pulled the blankets tighter around her as words echoed in her mind, from memory and from their repetition in her dreams.

_Eventually something will have to change._

_I can't give you any children._

_Of course you mind. It would just be us, forever, whether you stay human or not. I can't give you the family you must want._

It was because of those things that he was doubting their future together—that he was wondering if they could even _have_ a future together. But Vala knew it had to be possible, and she wanted it in whatever form it came in.

Maybe, though, Daniel needed a little incentive…something to show him that it could work, that their situation wasn't as hopeless as he seemed to miserably believe.

Vala lay where she was, wondering what she could do to help him see it. Her first idea she immediately shoved aside. It was rash, unwise…but then again when did she do the smart thing? She tried to think of another way. Honestly she did.

But in the end it came to the one idea.

She didn't think about it for much longer. If she thought, she wouldn't do it, and it seemed as if it was the only thing she _could_ do.

Before she could change her mind Vala got up quickly, dressed, and snuck back to the cold storage room.


	9. Chapter 9

Thanks for waiting! Sorry, I've had a lot to do this time of year, lol. Anyway, here's your next chapter. Enjoy; can't wait to hear from you! :) thanks!

Chapter 9

She and Daniel had already agreed when they first discussed the plan that once he had the blood samples, they should wait longer than usual to meet again to give it time to work, and avoid suspicion. That was why Vala wasn't to go back to his house until three weeks later.

It wasn't until the day she was supposed to go that it happened.

She'd been anxious for most of the time—for more than one reason—but she knew she was dreading the moment when the news would arrive at the SGC that Daniel's remains had finally been found after almost a year and a half. What form would the news take? How would the others react at first? Were they really doing the right thing…?

Vala woke up that day wondering why it hadn't happened yet, and if she should even go to the house today. She had no way to contact Daniel to ask. She was out of bed early, dressed and pacing her room, waiting until she could leave just after noon.

_What's going on, Daniel?_

A knock on her door seemed to answer the silent question.

It was Sam. "Hey…I was just letting you know that General Landry wants SG-1 in his office in half an hour."

Vala glanced at the clock. It was 9:30. "His _office_?" she asked suspiciously.

Sam hesitated. "Yeah, I…I think something's up. He looked a little distracted when he asked me to tell the rest of you…"

She swallowed. "Oh, right, well…I'll be there. Thanks." Sam nodded, and she quickly shut the door and leaned heavily on it. _It _had_ to be today_?

* * *

Daniel left the house in Forks early that morning, when no one was paying attention. They were working or absorbed in their spouses. It was easy for him to slip out unnoticed in the hours before dawn. Those who weren't already out hunting were usually otherwise occupied.

He went up the mountain into the crisper air, to clear his head. Granted, his faculties themselves were not muddled in the slightest—not with the brain he had now—but his emotions needed reining in.

The plan Carlisle had concocted had been much more detailed and believable than what Daniel had in mind. It was much cleaner, much better. His friends wouldn't be able to argue with the information they would receive…would receive today. Carlisle had even been able to pinpoint _that_.

It was almost perfect, but of course nothing could be. Still, it all involved so much more than Daniel had realized, and Carlisle had covered it all. Through his contacts and friends the doctor had been able to compile an entire of folder of documents to have sent to the SGC, allegedly through the Air Force and originally from the local law enforcement agencies of where his 'remains' were supposedly found.

There were falsified reports, medical examiners' documents, and even a certificate of death. The final punch came with his glasses, which Daniel had given to Carlisle to have sent back to his friends with the news. They wouldn't have much reason to question anything anymore, once it all got to them. They could finally bury him—in their minds and in a grave—even if the coffin was empty.

He was doing the right thing. He knew he was. It would for them, at first, but in the long run it would help them. The unanswered questions would be much fewer, the larger question answered.

But Daniel still felt horrible, and half of it…half of it had nothing to do with the rest of his friends who would soon believe him dead.

* * *

Teal'c's instincts clearly told him that whatever General Landry meant to tell SG-1 when they gathered in his office must be quite serious, and quite possibly bad news. Unfortunately, here was only one specific bit of bad news that he could fathom the SGC might receive that would be relevant only to SG-1.

He was the first to arrive, and he was not surprised when Cameron Mitchell, Samantha Carter, and Vala MalDoran all appeared as apprehensive as he felt when they arrived. Cameron and Samantha came first, not long after Teal'c himself, and Vala was last, seeming reluctant.

General Landry was not waiting in the office for them, but two of the chairs from the briefing room had been pulled into the office to make room for all for of them to sit across from the desk. Even so, they waited for the general on their feet, and Teal'c could feel the uneasiness radiating from his friends in waves.

At precisely 10 am General Landry came in through the side door of his office and stopped behind his desk, looking no better than the rest of them did. He was quiet, impassive, but as long as they had worked for them they all recognized the signs of hidden strain. He motioned for them to sit, and Vala immediately dropped into one of the stationary chairs, farthest from the desk. If anything, she was the most tense of any of them.

Teal'c quietly sat in the identical chair beside her, allowing Cameron and Samantha to sit in the more comfortable chairs from the briefing room.

Landry didn't sit. Instead he glanced at the doors as if making sure they were closed, and sighed. It was almost a vulnerable sound, something they didn't hear from him often.

"Sir?" Carter piped up almost immediately.

"There's no good way to say this," he answered. He looked at them for a moment, then down at the desk for another, hand resting on a thick folder that sat there, before he faced them again. "I'm afraid we finally have some news…on Daniel. It's not good."

Samantha draw in a quick breath, and Vala's eyes suddenly clenched tightly shut, as if steeling herself against what might come next.

"Not good how?" Mitchell asked tightly.

Teal'c said nothing. He did not want to hear the rest any more than the rest of them did…but he knew it was necessary.

Landry waited again, not long, but long enough that they understood he hated being the bearer of the news he was about to give. "It's not any different than we feared, in the broad sense," he said quietly. "His body was found last week."

Mitchell cursed quietly, and Samantha flinched as if physically struck. Vala didn't move, and her eyes remained shut. The only indication she had heard at all was the tightening of her grip on the arms of the chair she sat in.

Teal'c lowered his head slowly, gravely, in honor of his friend. _Daniel Jackson…_Suddenly he felt a sick feeling he had not experienced in some time.

As much as part of him wanted to leave now, to sequester himself in his room and meditate, to sooth the sudden pain, he made himself listen to the rest of the report, given quietly and quickly by the general before the shock of him human friends could dissolve into sorrow.

"A man on vacation, fishing in one of the smaller lakes near where he disappeared, pulled up a waterlogged P-90 two weeks ago, and of course an investigation followed into which the lake was dragged." Landry sighed.

"He ah…he'd been down there about as long as we've been looking for him. He probably drowned the same day he disappeared. There were tears in the clothing that suggested an animal attack, but there's no way to say positively what kind after that long under water; the rips could have widened, or multiplied from catching on plants…Either way, he was hurt. If he fell in in that condition, with all of his gear on…"

Vala groaned, head already dropped into her hands.

Samantha choked on a dry sob. "He never would have had a chance."

"Oh, god…" Mitchell gasped.

Landry tapped the folder in front of him and told them it contained the reports, and then he pulled something else out of a desk drawer. "This was all that was sent back…" In a plastic evidence bag were Jackson's glasses, one lens broken and both scratched.

That drove it home.

Then Carter's eyes weren't dry anymore, and she was bent over, crying softly, and since he was already at her side there was no risk in Cameron pulling her into his arms.

Teal'c felt his jaw clench tightly, and he stood at the same moment Vala did. Her eyes were wet as he knew his were, but it seemed as if neither of them were willing to let the tears go farther.

She went for the door, not seeing him at first. When she did see him, she stopped, and he wondered if perhaps more of his emotions were leaking to his face than he wished, for she changed course and came slowly to him, instead. He thought he saw something in her eyes, something besides the sorrow…but it was hidden when she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

* * *

Daniel heard them coming long before anyone reached him, of course. He wasn't annoyed, only a little confused that they'd gone to the trouble to look for him, a little touched.

Bella reached him first. There was no seeing her coming, because he wasn't looking. He was sitting, staring out over the forest below the cliff instead, and one moment he was alone and the next he was turning and she was behind him.

"We've been looking for you all morning," she told him, arms crossed.

"I'm sorry...but why—?"

"You disappear a lot, but you always tell us beforehand. Today you didn't."

His mouth opened a little before he realized that she was right. As much as he tried to leave unnoticed, it was never without telling them the day before that he _was _going to be leaving.

"Right. I'm sorry." He turned back to the vista below and swallowed. He was letting himself slip already. He couldn't afford to do that.

Bella stepped up to the edge beside him. "Is there anything particularly fascinating up here?"

In a split second he was standing too. "No, not really. I just came here to think. It's a nice place for it."

"I guess," she said skeptically, though he wasn't sure which part of it the tone applied to.

"Don't you ever just think…like maybe about what your life would have been like if you'd stayed human?"

She shrugged. "Every now and then, but it's nothing that keeps me occupied for very long, not when I have Edward and Renesmee." She looked at him then, suddenly. "Oh…but you don't have anyone…not here…"

He nodded silently and looked away again.

"You don't talk about your human life—the people in your life then. We don't know much about you beyond where you worked and what you did, vaguely."

Daniel hesitated. "It…hurts," he admitted. "To talk about them."

There was a moment of silence. "I'm the only other one in this family that remembers anyone I knew as then who's still alive. Of those, I still see my parents, the two who ever really meant anything to me. I was never that close to my human friends…" A pause. "That wasn't the case for you, was it?"

He shook his head minutely. "I was human for a lot longer than any of you. I had a lot more time to…become attached." He didn't think _any_ of them could really understand how hard all of this was for him, leaving them. "Sometimes…" He almost laughed, just a little. "Sometimes I really wish we could cry."

Out of the corner of his eyes he saw Bella give him a solemn smile. "That much I can understand."

Alice found them then, and the relief was evident on her face. "Thanks, Bella. Why don't you tell the others he's all right? I'll make sure he gets home."

Bella glanced at him, and he nodded in thanks. She nodded back and left just as quickly as she had come.

"You're not going back to Colorado anymore," Alice said once she was gone. It wasn't a question, because for her there wasn't much that was.

"No," Daniel sighed, jaw clenching. "I can't."

Alice gripped his arms gently, looking piercingly up at him. "Are you sure that's what you want?"

"Of _course_ that's not what I _want_," he choked out. "But it's what I have to do. It's the only things that's fair to her, in the long run. It's the only choice that keeps her and the others safe…"

Her hands dropped, and she nodded slowly. "As long as you're sure."

"I have to be," he answered quietly.

* * *

Vala felt horrible about leaving the SGC all of that, but Sam and Cameron had each other, and after an hour or so Muscles seemed all right. He was tough, though she was glad she'd taken the time to hug him for a while.

She needed it almost as much as he did.

She was a little late arriving at the house, but the generator still wasn't on when she closed the cellar door over her. It wasn't too terribly cold, and she wasn't sure what was going to happen today, so she didn't bother to turn it on herself. She was too anxious to take the time to do it, regardless. Even though she was roughly sure Daniel wasn't there yet, she hurried up the stairs to the kitchen.

Just as she'd suspected, there was no one there, and she was about to cross into the living room and drop onto the couch to wait when something on the kitchen counter caught her eyes—something that hadn't been there before.

It was nothing but a small envelope, with nothing written on the outside, but it could only be meant for her, right?

Vala pick it up and pulled out a typed page, what must have been a note from Daniel. Her name wasn't on it, and neither was his signed, but she supposed that was for security, as was the fact that it came from a word processor. There was no reason to take chances.

For a brief second she was relieved, sure that he was telling her why he wasn't there, and when he would be.

_I'm sorry,_ it began.

Vala quickly scanned the rest, looking for what she wanted to know, and froze in her place at what her eyes passed over. Slowly, deliberately, unbelievingly, she traced back to the top and read the entire letter. Every word seemed to cut her heart into smaller and smaller pieces. Gradually she sank to the floor as her breath caught in her throat and her heart seemed to stop.

She was right in her first thought—the note told her why Daniel wasn't there.

But it also told her that he wasn't coming back.


	10. Chapter 10

Here ya go! I thought I'd get another chapter out before all of the Christmasactivities take up my time starting this weekend, so I'll only be able to get that Christmas D/V story finished, if that, but I'll be working on it I promise. Anyway, I hope you like this chapter, and I can't wait to hear from ya'll as always. grins. Merry Christmas! And if anybody wants to gripe at me for saying that and not 'happy holidays' (ugh) uhm, well, have fun. I'm whistling with my fingers stuck in my ears. ;) Have a great vacation (or day/s off) everybody!

Chapter 10

When the haze of agony that had dropped over Sam's senses lifted enough for her to realize that none of them knew where Vala was, she left Cameron and Teal'c in the commissary brooding over an early dinner to go look for her.

She started up at the desk outside the second elevator, but discovered that though vala had signed out for a little while, she'd come back an hour or so before. A little confused, but relieved, Sam went to Vala's room next. She was there, but…

"Vala!"

The other woman was curled on the floor in front of her dresser, and several short, dully-cut locks of black hair were scattered on top of it, in front of the mirror. On the ground a now-ruined pair of small office scissors lay pulled apart. Vala was sobbing—thick, heavy, nearly inhuman sobs that shook her from head to toe.

Sam couldn't get across the room fast enough. She kicked the broken scissors under the dresser and dropped to her knees beside her friend and pulled her up into her arms to lean her on her shoulder. "Shhh, it's okay. It'll be okay…"She could help but wince when she stroked the mussed hair that ended in jagged cuts at various intervals, as if Vala had been trying to cut her hair shorter but the scissors stuck.

"What are you doing?" Sam worried aloud, gulping.

Vala, unsurprisingly, didn't answer, but her arms wrapped around one of Carter's and clung on for dear life. Sam held on tightly in return, hoping it would help. She wasn't sure how long they sat there, until she realized that Vala was looking rather green. Sam barely towed her into the tiny bathroom in time before she vomited—or would have, if there was anything in her stomach, but it was painfully obvious that her friend either hadn't eaten anything today or had already thrown it up before.

When that ordeal was over Sam coaxed her into her bed. It was then that she noticed the doubled-over slip of paper that Vala was clutching in her hand. Sam tried to take it from her before she covered her up, but Vala wouldn't release it. Now even more worried, Sam covered her up anyway and laid a cool damp cloth on her forehead. Something was making her friend upset enough to be physically ill, and she wasn't sure if it could really only be because of the news about Daniel…his body.

It didn't take long for Vala to slip into an exhausted, fitful sleep, but Sam was grateful enough for that that she jumped at the door and opened it quickly to avoid any more knocking when someone tapped on it. She slipped into the corridor to face Mitchell and Teal'c, who were eyeing her with worried expressions.

Sam sighed. "She's upset…but right now she's asleep," she said in explanation, making it clear that the men weren't to bother her.

"Is she okay?" Cam questioned.

"She will be, I think. She just needs some time. But I think we're all going to need that." Both of the men nodded mutely in agreement. Sam hugged both of them briefly. "I think I'll stay here tonight though, just to make sure."

Teal'c nodded once, put a hand on her shoulder for a moment, and then left.

Cameron sighed. "Okay. Take care of her. Call if you need…anything." Sam squeezed his hand and smiled enough to let him know she would be all right, too.

"Thanks."

When she shut the door behind her again she realized that Vala was tossing and turning more now than before, mumbling a repeated sentence in her sleep in almost a wail. "He's not coming back…he's not coming back…"

The words were just as much a sob, and they hit Sam in the chest like a brick wall. She sank to her knees beside the bed, and her arms wrapped around her chest as if there were a hole in it. That was what it had felt like, all this time not knowing what happened to Daniel. Now that they knew, the wound, she knew, would eventually heal…but it wouldn't go out without a painful fight.

Sam was catching her breath when she saw the white slip of paper on the floor at her knee, and it took her a moment to realize that it was the same one Vala had held in her hand only a few moments before. She picked it up, not meaning to look at it at first. But she only caught one of the folds, and it fell open. The fact that all she saw was a single type paragraph confused her.

What about this could make Vala care about it so much—or be so upset about it—that she wouldn't let go of it?

She could only think that maybe it would help her understand what was wrong with her friend. Still feeling a little guilty anyway, Sam skimmed the passage…and then read it twice more. It didn't make much sense.

"**I'm sorry…I'm so sorry about this, and I'm sorry you have to find out this way, but if I told you in person I wouldn't be able to do what I need to do. I would stay, and that's not what's best for you. You were right…We can't keep deluding ourselves, pretending the future's not coming, and the fact is—as much as I hate it—that in the end, we can't stay together. You know why. I won't do that to you, and I won't hurt you or put you in danger by staying any longer. You won't hear from me again, and I promise that in the long run, you'll realize it was best, even if you never thank me for this. I'm so, so sorry that I did this to you, stayed this long...I know it won't make it easier for either of us. And no, I'm not sorry that we **_**had**_** the time—just that it will hurt you now, before it gets better. I don't want you to be in pain. You deserve better than me. I will always, **_**always**_** love you, but I don't deserve you. Please, if you can forgive me…but I won't ask that unless you want to. You can even hate me, as long as you're happy in the end, without me. It's better that way. I hope you find someone else who can make you happy." **

That was all that was on the paper, and that was confusing enough. Had Vala been seeing someone recently? And now he had left her too? Vala hadn't been upset before that morning, which meant that when she'd gone out…

"Oh no," Sam moaned aloud. Of all the times…Again it seemed as if the fates were out for Vala's blood, just as much as they had always been after Daniel.

She set the piece of paper on the nightstand, folded just as it had been when she picked it up, and sat on the edge of the bed for a moment, wondering forlornly if the galaxy would ever decide that people like Vala and Daniel had had enough. She choked on her breath when she remembered that Daniel wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.

* * *

Sam woke to the sound of a door banging open against a wall. She sat up quickly, nearly panicking in worry that Vala had run off somewhere, but she relaxed when she realized that the only place her friend had gone off to was the bathroom.

She didn't relax completely, because she could hear that Vala was throwing up again-though again, there was nothing in her stomach. "Hey…" she called as she approached the door of the small bathroom off the room. "Are you okay?"

The heaving stopped, and Vala slumped back against the sink. "I'll survive," she said dryly, and she wasn't only talking about the illness. Sam came in tentatively, and sat on the lip of the shower stall. Vala's hands closed over her stomach. "I should probably eat something." She glanced down, and then really seemed to see her hair—and the fact that at least the last six inches or so had been ruined. She groaned.

Sam reached out to touch her shoulder. "Hey, it's okay…we'll get that fixed." She tugged at the split ends of her own long hair. "I could use a trim anyway." She hoped that would bring at least a ghost of a smile, but Vala only stared at her and shrugged.

"All right. Thanks."

Sam nodded. "Right…"

Vala gasped abruptly, and looked down at her empty hands, then up again, eyes wild. It wasn't a usual look for her. It was almost frightening.

"It's on the nightstand," Sam told her quickly, figuring out what she was after.

Vala jumped up immediately and ran back out into the room. Sam followed her and watched her all but jump over the bed and snatch up the note as if her life depended on it. She stood there holding it for a long moment, turned away, before something made her look back.

"Did you…?"

Sam's mouth opened, but nothing came out. She looked away.

"You did, didn't you?" Strangely enough there was no anger in the tone, no resentment. She couldn't discern _what_ the tone was…but she still felt the need to explain.

"Vala, you scared me last night. I didn't know what was wrong with you. I didn't think even what we heard would upset you that much. I was afraid there was something else; I just needed to know if whatever was on that paper would help me help you…"

Vala shook her head tiredly. "It's…it's all right. I'm sorry I know I must have been rather scary…"

"That's an understatement."

"I'm sorry, it's just, yesterday…" She didn't finished, and she turned away again, but not before Sam caught sight of the fresh tears gathering in her eyes.

Sam went around the bed and draped a comforting around her friend's shoulders.

"If you read it, you're probably a little confused," Vala said quietly.

"Maybe…but you don't have to tell me if you don't want to."

"I appreciate that," she whispered. "I can't…not now. Maybe I can tell you some of it…later."

Sam gave her shoulders a squeeze, concerned and worried and ragingly curious…but she couldn't push Vala. They were all having a hard time right now, and they all knew as well as anyone, working where they did, that sometimes there were secrets that had to be kept.

* * *

Sam was incredibly wonderful about everything, and Vala was thankful that she didn't ask questions all through breakfast or the drive to town. Vala had pulled her hair back into a ponytail to hide as much of the damage as possible, and they were both grateful for the excuse to get off of the base today. Cameron, of course, had sulked at being left behind, but there would be time for team things later. They would _all_ need a lot of time together, in the near future.

Vala sighed and picked at the ragged ends in her ponytail as Carter drove. She had to admit that everything before waking up this morning was blurry past reading the note from Daniel, but she did vaguely remember wanted to change her hair. Full and thick as it had been in the past reminded her of Daniel's human life, after she'd fallen in love with him. Straight as it was now it reminded her of their more recent time together. She'd wanted at least half of it gone, enough to make a difference, enough to dull the pain that had sliced through her heart the moment she first caught a glance of herself in a reflective surface after realizing that she would never see Daniel again either.

She still wanted that, even now that she was thinking more clearly. She wanted to ease the pain, if she could. If it even helped.

After cutting off all of the damage hair and evening everything out, and then adding layers that were more flattering to her facial features…Vala was very pleased when in the end the longest layer the hairstylist left swung free just above her shoulders. She decided to redo the brown highlights, then, and this time add more and throw in a few thin blonde stripes in with the brown. Vala was very happy indeed with her shorter, pin-striped black hair when the stylist was through with it. The woman had even used a straightener and flipped the ends out in a way that even Sam had to agree suited her.

_Take that, _she thought bitterly. _You want me to move on? I'll move on. I can have a normal life. I can live without you. We all can. We—_

But the anger evaporated just as quickly as it had come, and she missed him again. She hoped Sam wasn't watching as she settled into the chair for a quick trim. She was sure her face was showing the drastic shifts in her emotions even if she didn't want it to.

With nothing to do but sit and wait for Sam to be done with having her hair trimmed, Vala's mind had time to wander, and that was a bad thing. Suddenly it was hard to breath. She needed fresh air, and an excuse not to think about anything at all.

"Sam…I'll be outside," she mumbled, barely audible. Carter looked concerned again, but she nodded, and Vala quickly retreated out to the sidewalk at the strip mall. It was getting colder as winter drew it…Christmas was coming…and the biting temperature gave her something to worry about. She pulled her coat around her tightly and shivered, but she didn't mind.

But as much as she wanted to, she couldn't force her mind to go blank, couldn't forget the piece of paper in the pocket of her jeans that stung there as if it was burning through her clothes. It wasn't that she didn't understand…she under too well, why he'd done what he did…but that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

It hurt worse than anything she could remember.

A sob rose in her throat and Vala shoved it back before the grief could incapacitate her again. She didn't want to scare Sam again. Carter was trying to help her…she should at least pretend like it was working.

The door of the hair salon swung open again to emit her friend then, and Sam glanced both ways down the sidewalk before she spotted Vala and came to her. "Okay, we're done." Sam searched her face. "Do you want to go back now, or is it all right if we get something to eat?"

Vala shrugged. "That's fine."

"What are you in the mood for?"

"It doesn't matter…"

Sam sighed. "Okay." She took Vala's arm and gently towed her back to the car. "That's definitely a different look for you," she said, commenting on the hair again.

"I know…what do you think, really?"

"I really do like it. The earlier praise was not just for the hairdresser's benefit. It looks good on you."

At that point Vala really wished she could smile. "Thanks." She paused. "Yours looks good too."

"I lost maybe two inches on a trim. I don't look any different," Carter pointed out, raising an eyebrow. Vala shrugged. "Okay, let's get some food in our stomachs. I don't think either of us ate much this morning."

Her own stomach growled, and Vala had to agree. Except for a shallow bowl of cereal that morning she hadn't eaten anything in the last thirty-six hours, and even if he wasn't coming back she doubted he would want her to starve herself…

Within half an hour the two women were sequestered in a booth in the back of a coffee shop, sipping complicated coffee confection drinks and all but scarfing down pastries. It helped a little, but the fact that Sam kept looking at her with that bothersome concerned look didn't. Finally Vala set her drink down and pulled the paper out of her pocket.

"You want to know what this is, don't you?"

Sam winced and looked away guiltily. "I'm just worried about you."

Vala knew that, and she felt bad about it. Maybe the best she could do was tell as much of the truth as she could…

"I was seeing someone," she said quietly.

Carter blinked. "Oh…" as if it didn't completely surprise her. "You know, you really _don't_ have to tell me though, if you don't want to, for some reason."

"No, I…I want to—as much as I can, anyway."

"What do you mean?"

Vala took a deep breath and squashed the pain, shutting it away into it's own little compartment in her mind and chest so that she could do this for her friend.

"You saw the note."

"Yes…"

"Well, he…he has secrets of his own. Maybe that was why we were attracted to each other. I met his while I was moping in the woods, of all places. Then until I could drive he picked me up so we could see each other…" All of that was true.

Sam sighed. "I wondered why you started disappearing for longer periods of time. That was what, two or three months ago?"

Vala nodded. "Right…I was with him, usually. He—" She swallowed hard, deciding she might as well get as close to the truth as she possibly could, so she wouldn't have to remember her story later. "He was a lot like Daniel. That's the only reason I was able to do that…see anyone at all."

"Because we still didn't know what happened?" Sam asked sympathetically.

She shrugged, but she didn't nod. That would be a lie. _She_ knew what had happened.

"So what happened?" Sam questioned gently.

"Those secrets of his," she winced. "He had to leave…you saw what he said. I can't really explain that any better than you can."_ That_ was a lie, but it was the only one she would tell. "But considering I'm from another planet and most people on this planet believe they're alone in the universe, I can understand that some things just shouldn't be told, but…I don't know." It would probably be easier for Sam to accept if she thought everything was just as much a mystery to Vala.

She exhaled miserably. "All I know is that I went to see him after we found out about Daniel, and he was gone. All I found was this," she whispered, clutching the note and shoving it back in her pocket.

"Vala, I'm so sorry…I just don't understand. How could he—"

"It's complicated." She snapped, more harshly than she would have liked. She calmed herself down and amended. "I mean, I imagine it must have been…for him to just leave."

Carter sighed. "Does this guy have a name?"

"I don't really want to talk about him, specifically…" Vala mumbled as an evasion. Not that it wasn't true. It was painful to even _think_ about him.

"Oh…sorry."

"It's all right." She shifted uneasily. "I mean, I…I think I saw this coming, really. I knew there was something about him…but I don't think either of us wanted to believe we should worry about it. He loved me—_loves_ me—and…and I think I love him. I do love him." Sam was looking at her with that sad concerned expression again, and Vala swiped at her eyes and picked up her frozen coffee. "But it doesn't matter anymore."

Sam was quiet for a long moment. "Vala, it was just yesterday, everything. It's okay to still be upset."

"I _am _upset!" The intensity of the outburst surprised her, not what she said. She knew that what she said was true. She _was_ upset. As much as she knew she shouldn't be angry with Daniel for trying to protect her, the whole situation upset her. "Sorry, I just—I am. I am upset. I know what he said in the letter, but I still wish he would have just _talked_ to me first."

Sam nodded in understanding—or at least understanding of the frustration. She couldn't know, of course, what else frustrated Vala, that Daniel had ever had to die and end up as a vampire in the first place, that he was forced into a decision like this, all of it.

"There were things I wanted him to know, at least, before he left," Vala went on dejectedly. "I don't think he knew how much I really feel for him. There were a lot of things he didn't know." A fresh wave of nausea washed over her, and she grimaced. "And he didn't know that I'm pregnant."

Sam nearly choked on the sip of coffee she was taking. "What?"

"I'm pregnant," she mumbled again.

"Oh my god. So that was why you were throwing up." She stopped there, and moved around the booth's table to sit next to Vala rather than across from her. "I'm sorry, that sounded bad. What kind of reaction were you looking for?" she asked sheepishly.

Vala shrugged. "I don't know. I'm not sure how I feel about it yet."

Again, not a lie. No, it wasn't because they'd done anything. It was only the product of her foolishness and rash decision making. But it was still Daniel's child, and they_ had_ loved each other, in the time they'd had together, and she believed him when he said he still loved her even though he had to leave. If they hadn't been under the restrictions necessary because of what he was, to keep him from hurting herby accident…then maybe this would be a normal pregnancy.

Then again, if it were a normal pregnancy, Daniel would be alive and still working at the SGC—not presumed dead and living in Washington with a family of vampires.

Carter's arm went around her shoulder yet again. "Do you know what you're going to do?" she asked gently, and then hesitated awkwardly. What she said next seemed to be echoing Vala's own thoughts. "Are you…going to have it?"

No matter how the pregnancy had come to be, the fact that Daniel really did love her was the only thing that kept her from feeling completely horrible about doing what she'd done without asking Daniel first. She was reasonably sure she hadn't been thinking straight that night...but if they could have stayed together, maybe he would have even agreed that it was a good idea, eventually, since it was really the only viable option in his condition. Remembering Daniel loved her, had promised he would always love her...it made the pain a little bit easier to deal with.

It also made her more determined than ever to have this baby and raise it.

"What?" Vala jerked around to stare at her friend. "Are you serious? Of course I am. I've never understood the fascination women on Earth seem to have with killing their unborn children." She shuddered. "Even when I knew what Adria was, I didn't—I just couldn't do something like that."

"That's good to know," Sam sighed. That hesitation again. "You know we don't blame you, don't you? About Adria, not for any of it."

Vala squeezed her friend's hand and tried to smile, but it came out much too nervous-looking. "I know. Thank you. I just…I don't know what to do, beyond having the baby."

"We'll be here for you, you know, all of us," Carter told her. "You can be sure of that. No matter who that baby's father is, or where he is, the kid will always have a family here. So will you."

She didn't know quite what to say to that. She'd always known it, the part about her, but to know that it hadn't changed, even with this, even though she might be keeping things from them…Her throat clogged up against her will. "Thank you," Vala whispered. "And I know that this may sound horrible, after everything I've already told you, but please don't tell Cameron and Teal'c yet, or anyone. I promise I won't make you do it at all. I'll tell them, but not right now. I need more time to sort things out."

Sam looked at her for a long moment, and then pulled her into a hug. "Okay. This will all be just between you and me for now."

But Vala was still hiding things, still lying a little, and she knew it. That only made it hurt worse, even atop the gratitude she felt for Sam being so understanding.

She thanked Carter again, but this time it came out in a sob.


	11. Chapter 11

Ok, I'm back from vacation for good, finally! LOL. Anyway, here's the new chapter, the Christmas chapter actually, a little late, lol. Oh well. I hope you like it anyway. :)

IMPORTANT: Also, over on my LJ (the link to which can be found on my profile here) I just updated it with a header inspired by this story, and posted the link to an icon and wall for the story that you're more than welcome to snurch! :D Have a great day! Thanks!

Chapter 11

Now that they knew where he was, Alice left and the Cullens left Daniel be. He sat up on the mountain the rest of the night, thinking. He was sure he'd made the right decision…

And he knew how to make himself accept it and stand by it.

Carlisle was beside the river when he ran back the nest day, the river that ran through the Cullens large back yard before the forest began. Daniel jumped the more than twenty feet effortlessly, and landed beside the doctor with grace that he still wasn't used to. Carlisle was looking at him with concern when he straightened.

"Are you all right, Daniel? Alice said you had a few difficult things to think through…"

Daniel pulled a slow breath, taking the in the scents from the house that told him all of the other Cullens were there, and they could hear him.

"Yes, I'm…I'm fine." He looked into his friend's deep golden eyes and let out a little of the breath, along with what was left of Daniel Jackson. "I've decided what I want to do. If you don't mind, I want to stay—for good. I want to be part of your family and take your name, if the other still stands."

* * *

By the time the season for Christmas shopping had arrived a few weeks later, the Cullens were confident enough in Daniel's self-control to let him go to Port Angeles with Bella, Edward, and Renesmee. The Cullens did most of their shopping online, or in larger cities with nicer, more expensive stores…but Bella had been more recently human than everyone but Daniel, and she wanted to give her daughter the whole typical Christmas experience.

Being near Vala as much as he had, it wasn't as hard as he'd thought it would be.

His usual stubbornness probably helped, too, besides the fact that he was no longer considered a newborn—he was well past the year mark now. He wasn't stronger than the rest of his vampire friends any longer, either. He wasn't large and athletic like Emmet, or fast like Edward, a skilled fighter like Jasper. He didn't really even know _how_ to fight, like this. He didn't seem to have any quantifiable special talent like, Jasper, Alice, Edward, and Bella. (Bella's, actually, was the most powerful. Her mind was a shield against all other mental vampire talents, and she could spread it to protect as many people as she wished. Edward could not hear her thoughts unless she allowed it.)

Daniel seemed to be settling into a perfectly mediocre vampire existence.

That was perfectly all right with him. After spending his entire human life as a prodigy, the brain, drawing attention to himself at the same time that he often only wanted to hide in the shadows…it was almost nice to be average.

He could have gone shopping with any of the Cullens, but besides Alice being something of a best friend, and Carlisle a wonderful mentor, Daniel felt closest to Edward and Bella. They had found him, rescued him, and welcomed him into this new life before he even knew they had more family. It was thanks to them that he hadn't either been killed, or woken up alone—with no idea what had happened and no thoughts beyond the thirst.

It was thanks to Edward and Bella that he had not become a monster.

Daniel shuddered whenever he remembered what could have happened. Eventually, he would have regained some sense of himself…probably figured out for himself that he could survive on animals…but after how many human lives had been lost? If the two Cullens had not stayed with him through his transformation and been there when he woke up, he would have been too disoriented to stop himself from acting on this body's instincts.

He could have been a murderer.

The fact that Edward and Bella had saved him from that and shown him from the beginning how to survive without human blood, made him eternally grateful to them. Despite the fact that none of them had created him—and the fact that Carlisle and Esme were the 'parents' of the Cullen home—if Daniel had parents in this life he supposed it would be Edward and Bella. Even though Bella really was younger than him by almost twenty years as her frozen age suggested, Edward was older than them both by decades. All of the Cullens were.

They spent most of the day in Port Angeles, and by that time Daniel was feeling strained. There were too many humans…

Edward caught it in his thoughts, of course, and nudged Bella. Renesmee shot him a sympathetic smile as her mother ushered him into a nearly abandoned bookstore.

"Here, this is better. Will you be okay for just a little while? We're almost done. We have one more stop to make, just down the mall."

Daniel sighed and nodded. "Yeah, thanks. I'll be fine."

"All right. You can just meet us at the car, too, if you need to."

He smiled a little to thank her again, and she nodded and left with Edward and Renesmee. As usual, discreet stares followed the beautiful family. It took a moment for Daniel to remember that people stared at him now, too. The few people in the front of the book store were unsuccessfully hiding the fact that they were watching him, and now that he was alone he had to flee into the rows of bookshelves to escape the discomfort. Before, he could pretend that it wasn't him they were looking at, and it had been true. They were staring at the Cullens, too.

Daniel relaxed the moment he was free of the amazed gazes and whispers that he could hear all too well. The rows of books swallowed him and immediately put him at ease. This was somewhere where he felt at home. It wasn't a huge bookstore, because it wasn't a large mall and this wasn't a large city, but it was enough to comfort him. He had to admit that it felt more than good to be in a bookstore again at all.

Less than an hour later, when the Cullens returned for him, his burning throat had been all but forgotten, and he was perfectly happy browsing the racks. It wasn't until the four of them were climbing into Edward's silver Volvo that he winced as the thirst made itself known again.

"Maybe I should have stayed out longer while we were hunting yesterday," he mumbled—though that, of course, was plenty loud enough for them to hear him.

"That does help," Edward commented. "Until it doesn't bother you as much, anyway."

"It seems like it _never_ gets very much easier to be around humans…"

"That's because our time scale is different than you're used to. I'm sorry to say that it'll take a few decades before it's really _easier_ on any level."

"It's not that easy for me, either," Bella added. "I've just been doing it longer, besides the fact that I had the head start, knowing well what I was getting into when I changed."

Bella had seen her father again the week she was changed, but since she had her shield talent and no vampire had ever been known to have two powers, the Cullens all assumed it was only that she had been prepared that kept her from killing him then, and allowed her to get back out among humans almost immediately after.

Daniel sighed. "Yeah, yeah, I know…I just wish…" he trailed off, careful not to think of Vala. He didn't have to say anything for them to understand, and Edward would hear it repeated in his thoughts anyway. _I still wish this had never happened. I want to _be_ human. Sorry, nothing against you, but you know that…_

And Daniel saw Edward nod almost imperceptibly in the rearview mirror.

* * *

The Christmas after Daniel disappeared was almost nonexistent, for SG-1. Sam and Cameron went home to visit their respective families, and Teal'c and Vala stayed behind and ate Christmas dinner in the commissary with the other single, lonely, otherwise friendless SGC personnel—the skeleton crew that manned the base that day. For the four of them there was no sense of loss at not really celebrating. They hadn't felt like celebrating.

This year they all felt almost as bad, but at least now they knew what had happened. There was at least some amount of closure, and Vala could see that even though it had only been a few weeks, her friends were beginning to move on. They'd had more than a year to mourn, and now that they knew—could get past what had happened and weren't hampered by endless questions—they were moving much more quickly toward okay.

Vala couldn't hamper that anymore. She didn't have Daniel anymore, either. It was almost easier to pretend as if he died to her that day weeks ago as absolutely as he had for Sam, Cameron, and Teal'c. In reality…she had to. He wasn't coming back.

SG-1 did gather this year. When Sam and Cameron returned from leave to see family—a trip only Vala and Teal'c knew that they took together this year, visiting both families before the holiday—the four of them got together at Cameron's apartment Christmas morning. The mood wasn't as jubilant as past years, but it was better than the way things had been for the past year and a half.

"Finally we have the party at my place," Mitchell mussed good-naturedly, when they were through with their short gift exchange.

"Well, we're always at my house," Sam shrugged. _Or Daniel's. _"I guess it was time for a change." _Because doing everything the same would have only reminded us of who we're missing. _

None of them missed the subtext.

"Indeed," Teal'c said quietly.

Vala pressed a hand to her stomach and sighed. "Sure."

* * *

Despite her quickly growing body and even more highly accelerated mind, Renesmee Cullen was still a child. Nessie dragged her parents to the main house from their cottage the moment she was awake Christmas morning, and immediately commenced pulling the others from their rooms.

It didn't take long before everyone was downstairs around the Christmas tree, laughing and passing out gifts from the generous piles spread under the tree. Alice was the only one who knew that Daniel had a reason to be less than ecstatic, and her hand lingered on his shoulder whenever she passed him.

This was better and worse than last year. Daniel had still agonized then over what he had become—that he couldn't see his friends, couldn't even leave the Cullen house for fear he would kill innocent people to satisfy the thirst that he could not yet control. The Cullens had given him a nice laptop with a few accessories and a docking station, to help him feel some connection with the outside world, and left him alone. He hadn't wanted to take part in the celebration, but it hadn't hurt their feelings.

Daniel felt just as unwilling to celebrate this year, but he knew he wouldn't have a decent explanation if he didn't. He was still on the way to fully accepting the fact that this was life now, and he knew this would help. So he joined in the festivities. He'd bought presents for them all, and allowed them to return the favor even though it made him uncomfortable to be receiving anything from them after everything they'd already done.

Bella was the only one who understood his aversion to gifts from the Cullens, because apparently she had once felt the same way. Thus, he received only a small token from her, Edward, and Nessie. Daniel had discovered that after the transformation, prescription lenses only distorted things, so they had bought him a new pair of glasses with plain glass lenses that he could actually see through. They looked just like the partially broken ones they had found him in, though he glanced at the thin arm and noticed that of course it was a designer label.

He received books from Carlisle and Esme, and from Alice and Jasper a box half his height of more new clothes. From Emmett and Rosalie, a stereo and stack of CDs, because apparently he had not outfitted his new room to their satisfaction. It wasn't until a little later, when everyone was spread out across the living room enjoying their gifts, that Carlisle approached him again. Esme was right behind him, and the others dropped what they were doing and wandered over, as if on some unspoken cue.

Daniel stood uncertainly from the couch when he realized that they were all circling around him.

Carlisle was carrying a thin manila envelope, which he held out as he smiled. "One more thing. This is from all of us."

He couldn't begin to imagine just what on earth would have them all looking at him expectantly like this. "For me?" he asked weakly. Carlisle nodded, and he slowly took the envelope. "Thank you…"

Resisting the urge to wince under their gaze, Daniel bent up the metal tabs and pulled out the contents of the envelope—a thin stack of papers and things of various sizes, all paper-clipped together. He was sure his eyes were bugging out from the moment he saw the document on top, and his hands trembled as he pulled off the paper clip off and dropped it back in the envelope, which he dropped to look through the papers.

"Carlisle…" he all but whimpered.

Everything was there, everything he would need to really start his new life here—birth certificate, drivers' license, social security card, passport, and a few things he didn't even recognize—all in the Cullen name, at his request from a few weeks before. But instead of Daniel's first and middle names before the new one, the middle name he'd never liked anyway had been dropped, and 'Jackson' had been moved back into it's place.

"I hope you don't mind the way I had it done. I thought it would make things a little easier for you," Carlisle told him gently.

Daniel swallowed convulsively. "I…ah…no, this works. It's…perfect. Thank you." His eyes pricked in that strange way these new eyes had when they couldn't tear up, but his old human instincts told him they should be.

"Welcome to the family, Daniel," Edward said smoothly.

The others echoed the sentiment, and Renesmee separated herself from her parents to wrap her arms around his waist.

"_Officially_, we're cousins now," she chuckled. "But I think I like you as a brother better."

Daniel blinked. He'd never known before that was exactly how she felt. "Thanks." She grinned up at him, and seemed to understand his uncertainty.

She touched his neck with a palm, and he saw things her way for a moment. Nessie showed him her joy whenever he came home from an extended absence; the way she saw her parents talking about him sometimes, the way they seemed almost as protective of him as they were of her, though they didn't usually let him see it. She showed him the good times she remembered since he'd come, the long talks about archaeology and anthropology and languages that had them both sitting up in the living room half the night while Bella and Edward watched in amusement, not minding that they wouldn't be going home to their cottage that night.

Nessie showed him all this and more, and then pulled her hand away and hugged him again, tighter this time. Daniel returned the embrace then, and the pricking was worse. "Thank you," he whispered, both to her and as a repeat to the others.

Maybe this was different. Maybe he still loved and missed his old family back in Colorado, and he always would…but this was his family now.

Now his name was Daniel Jackson Cullen.

* * *

Vala drove herself back to the SGC after the Christmas party that morning and quickly hurried to her room. She dropped the bag of gifts she'd gotten there by the door, and she went to her bed and went down on her knees to pull a small wooden box out from under it. As she sat on the edge of the bed, she flipped the box over instead of opening it to see the trinkets from her childhood that lay inside.

She slipped a key from a hole in the side of the box that left the head of the key flush with the grain when it was in its place—completely unnoticeable unless one knew where to look and where to pull to get it out. She pushed the key under the lip of the bottom of the box, into a keyhole that was also invisible unless one knew it was there.

The bottom of the box popped open when Vala turned the key, revealing the small compartment there. The envelopes long since thrown away, the letters from Jacek were there because she couldn't bear to throw them away and yet it was too painful to ever look at them, since her father had run away again. This compartment in this small old box was where she had chosen to carefully lock away her heart.

Vala pulled a picture from her pocket. It was her and Daniel, taken only a couple of months ago where they sat curled together on his couch, smiling at the camera and waiting for the five-second timer to snap the shot. It was the only picture he had ever let her take of them—of him—since they had found each other again. He had insisted that it was safer not to have any evidence lying around of what they were doing, if they were to keep their friends safe from these Volturi he spoke of. He made her promise to keep the one copy of the one picture with her always, or somewhere else equally secure, to make sure no one ever saw it.

She couldn't keep it with her anymore. It would kill her to know it was there and remember what she didn't have anymore. Her fingers brushed delicately over his perfect face in the laminated picture. It was depressing how plain she looked next to him. Her memory could not do him justice, now—not his new face. It was too flawless, white, and smooth. She'd learned not even to mind that it was hard and cold as well when she ran her hand over it…

Vala halted her thoughts there and blew air through her pursed lips. "I love you, Daniel," she whispered.

She would remember that he had loved her, but that was all. She could never really forget, not with the new life growing inside her now…even if it was she alone that had put it there…but all she could really cling to was that Daniel had loved her. To remember the present tense when he wasn't here was too painful, to focus too precisely on the memories was too painful, but she would remember that he had loved her and she would carry his child—the only other child she would ever have, Vala promised herself now.

She didn't think he would begrudge her that much.

Vala swallowed and placed the picture in the shallow space with her father's letters without looking at it again. She quickly shut and locked the compartment, and shoved the box back under her bed.

"Goodbye," she choked.

* * *

When Renesmee let go of him, she leaned down and picked up the manila envelope to hand it back to Daniel. She was grinning as she did, and he didn't understand until he felt the weight in the bottom of the paper.

"Yes, there's something else in there," Carlisle grinned. Edward, Emmett, and Alice were now positively bursting at the seams, and the others looked decently anticipatory while Bella rolled her eyes and mouthed a silent 'sorry' in his direction.

Now he was really curious—besides being moderately terrified—as he slid the papers back into the envelope and pulled out the object that distorted the bottom of the package.

"Oh, you didn't," Daniel groaned as he held it up. It was a set of car keys he didn't recognize.

"I'll get it!" Nessie chirped in laughter. She already knew how to drive, of course, though she didn't look old enough to do it on the road yet. She had snatched the keys from his hands and disappeared out the front door before he could protest.

"I told them not to," Bella smiled apologetically. "But I guess there's nothing wrong with not having to borrow a car all the time."

Carlisle chuckled. "Don't worry; it's not too bad."

That was when they all heard the heavy paw-falls in the woods outside the house, and knew that company was coming. The sound stopped at the edge of the trees, and moments later Jacob Black strolled through the front door wearing only an old pair of blue jeans. As far as Daniel had heard it was more convenient that way, than to keep up with shoes and an entire set of clothing when they shifted into wolf form—Jacob and the rest of the 'werewolves.'

"Hey vamps, what'd I miss? Had to spend this morning in La Push with the parental unit and all that…" That was where all the wolves were from, La Push. It was a Quileute Indiana reservation near Forks.

They heard a vehicle park in front of the house, and in a split second Renesmee was back inside, had tossed Daniel his keys back, and latched around Jacob's waist now.

"Jacob! We were just about to show Daniel the car we got him for Christmas. Oh, and I have a present for you!"

Jacob laughed and swung her easily up into his arms. "I hope so. I gotta give you yours, too."

Nessie giggled and jumped down.

"Wait until Daniel sees his car," Edward suggested. "He'll need just as much help being enthusiastic as Bella."

"What's with all the new bloodsuckers knowing nothing about cars?" His alternative terms for vampires were not derogatory; it was simply wolf slang. Daniel raised an eyebrow in amusement at the car jibe, and Jacob shrugged. "No offense intended."

"None taken."

Alice was bouncing up and down by now. "Come on, let's get outside!"

"Okay, okay," Daniel relented. The others waited for him to go out first. He stopped on the porch, relieved and yet a little intimidated at the same time.

It was a straightforward design, similar to Carlisle's Mercedes—it might have _been_ a Mercedes, but he wouldn't have known if it was—though instead of black it was a dull champagne color, pretty but not too terribly ostentatious. Not that it wouldn't still stand out in a lot of typical middle-class vehicles.

"At least it's not a sports car," he managed to smile.

Alice grinned manically. "See? I knew you wouldn't mind a new car. You like it, don't you?"

It was definitely much nicer than anything he'd ever owned in the past.

"Yes, he likes it," Edward nodded in satisfaction.

"Nice," Jacob commented appreciatively. He was the only one of them besides Daniel who had never seen it before, apparently, and he was the first to jog down the steps to take a closer look.

Daniel followed at a slower, human pace; suddenly wishing he knew more about what he was looking at as he joined Jacob. He wished he'd paid more attention on the few occasions Jack had tried to tell him anything about cars…

Jack. How was he handling the news? Weeks ago he would have received the same news that was sent to the SGC. Something in his stomach knotted at the thought of his best friend, abruptly pulling any enjoyment from the moment as he purposely pulled up the aching memories of his other friends' pain to keep the first thoughts from tracking back to Vala. He felt the hand on his shoulder and glanced at Edward briefly before grimacing silently and backing away.

"Thanks, all of you. I do like it; thank you. I uh…I just…I'll be in my room." Daniel ran back into the house at the blinding speed that still marveled him when he thought about it, but he wasn't thinking about it. In his room—empty but for a desk with his computer, and a shelf with the various books he'd bought since coming her—he dropped the manila envelope and the keys on the floor and sank down against the wall.

He knew Edward would give the others a brief explanation, and assure them that it wasn't their fault he'd run away.

* * *

"Hey, do you think Vala was okay today?" Cameron asked. He and Sam were the only two left at his apartment, as she had offered to help him clean the kitchen after the small gathering—just an excuse to stay longer, really. Almost a week together on the road, and she still didn't want to leave.

She had to wonder if he was right…if it was time to admit that this wasn't going to change. Being together wasn't only a security blanket from the pain anymore.

"Yeah, I think so. She's getting there, anyway."

Cam shoved a dried plate into place in a cabinet. "You sure she's not sick or something? She looked a little green…"

"I'm sure she's fine," Sam hedged.

He paused a moment, and then shrugged. "Okay. I guess you would know if there was anything to be worried about, right? She would tell _you_ wouldn't she?"

"Probably." She quickly changed the subject. "Hey, do you think your parents really did like me?"

"What? Of course they did. As much fun as Mom had with Vala, I think they're both relieved that you're a little more…conservative."

Sam snorted. It wasn't the perfect word choice, but probably the best either of them could have come up with on short notice. "Right. You know, to be honest, considering what I've hear about your upbringing, I was surprised that you didn't come back from that reunion early complaining that your parents had kicked Vala out of the house."

"No one was more surprised than me," he deadpanned.

She smirked.

"I do think they're still a little confused though—that it didn't work out with that girl from school. Of course they didn't hear about what happened at the reunion with the bounty hunter and the cargo ship rings and everything, so they don't understand that what with that being _all_ she knew, that relationship eventually went the way of most others outside of the base. It worse because she _knew_ there was something big I couldn't tell her…" He shrugged.

"Hmm…and you don't mind?"

Cam smiled suddenly and kissed her cheek. "Now I don't."


	12. Chapter 12

Okay, finally got this darn chapter finished. yeah, my laptop is like, dead, so I have to share the desktop--which doesn't run much better. Oi. ANYhoo, here ya go. :) Please do review if you're still around; it helps so much. Thanks! :D

Chapter 12

SG-1 gathered at Sam's house after all, for New Years. There really wasn't a safe way to celebrate it in an apartment building without noise complaints from neighbors. Vala didn't mind. Anything got her out of the SGC, and away from the endless hours of trying not to think that the holiday downtime allowed.

The extra distraction that presented itself helped too.

Vala had just arrived from the base with Teal'c, when another vehicle pulled into the driveway. The four of them waited in the entryway curiously, until Sam opened the door when it was knocked on and revealed a tired Jack O'Neill standing out in the cold carrying a couple of packs of drinks.

"Sir!" Carter yelped. She let him in and quickly closed the door behind him against the wind.

"Uhm…hey. Sorry I didn't make it for Christmas, but you know business in Washington. Hank said you guys would be out here tonight though, so…" he shrugged. "Caught the first flight out I found once I figured out I could make it in time; didn't really have time to call ahead."

"Are you well, O'Neill?" Teal'c asked in concern.

Along with the light bags under his eyes, the general's eyes were a bit red—and it probably wasn't from the flight. "Yeah, T, I'm ok. I just didn't think I should miss getting out here if I could since…you know…"

"It's good to see you, sir," Cameron said quietly. Sam nodded in agreement.

Mitchell took the drinks from O'Neill, and got in a handshake of welcome before the general moved on to give Teal'c a brotherly clap-on-the-back hug. Vala took a couple of steps back, feeling intrusive when he embraced Carter for a long moment.

She always felt just a bit left out, whenever she was reminded of the bonds the original SG-1 shared that she and Mitchell would never fully understand. A brief glance in Cam's direction told her that he was thinking the same thing right now.

Cameron went to put the drinks in the kitchen, and O'Neill let go of Sam and moved to give Vala's shoulders a friendly squeeze.

"Hey."

"Hi…" she trailed. Mitchell was back a moment later, and Jack shoved his hands in his pockets.

"So…how are you guys holding up?"

Teal'c frowned. "It is…difficult."

"Yeah, tell me about it. I never thought…"

Sam swallowed. "We're doing all right, sir. What about you?"

He only shrugged, and there was nothing but silence for a long moment. "But hey, I didn't come to bring the mood down. This is supposed to be a party. It'll be 2010 in a few hours."

Vala nodded to herself, but before she knew it the motion was much more vigorous. "He's right. That's—it's what he would want." She knew that better than any of them did. Daniel had told her himself; he wanted them to be happy. The others exchanged glances. Teal'c nodded, and Cameron smiled a little.

"Yeah."

* * *

The Denali clan—the only other family of vegetarian vampires—came from Alaska for New Years. Daniel had yet to meet Tanya's family until they arrived that afternoon.

There were five of them: Tanya, Kate and Garrett, and Carmen and Eleazar. Carmen and Eleazar were both black-haired and slightly olive-tinted. Garrett, a scruffy previous nomad and the most recent edition to the Denali clan, was Kate's mate. Though they were all just as beautiful as all of the Cullens, Tanya surpassed everyone in the room but maybe for Rosalie. Her strawberry curls reminded Daniel unwillingly of Sarah—yet another human friend he could never see again.

"Well, it certainly is a pleasure to meet you," Tanya grinned, once the other welcomes were over. "I'm sorry we haven't made it down here before now. You know, even if the rest of your family here doesn't have time, you can always come visit us any time."

"Thanks…"

_Tanya's the only member of her clan without a mate, and since Edward is married now she hasn't had anyone to crush on for a while_, Bella had told him the day before, grinning. _So I'd watch your back. _

She needn't have worried about warning him. It was immediately obvious that Tanya was flirtatious. After knowing Vala he could spot the type a mile away, though this woman wasn't quite that extreme. Still, he was glad when she moved on to let the rest of her family greet him.

"The Cullens just can't stay evened up for long, can they?" Kate chuckled. "Barely five years since Bella officially joined them, and now they've taken on yet another."

Tanya spoke from across the room. "Ah, but we're extended family, remember? Think of it that way, and this newcomer has actually evened us up as a whole," she said, and winked at Daniel. He blinked in confusion and quickly shoved it off. He didn't want to know what she was trying to say.

He shot a quick look at Alice, and thankfully she picked up on the silent plea for help. Immediately his diminutive new sister danced to Tanya's side and began peppering her with question about the most recent goings-on in Alaska. Daniel sighed; he was more than willing to let Alice run distraction for the rest of the night, if she had to.

Eleazar shook Daniel's hand as his mate smiled warmly.

"It _is_ good to finally meet out new cousin," Carmen told him kindly.

"We have plenty of time before midnight. Why don't you tell us a little bit about yourself?" Eleazar suggested.

Carmen nodded. "Where were you from? Carlisle hasn't told us much."

"Ah, let's see, where I'm from...If you want the whole story, that's kind of complicated. My parents were archaeologists like I am, so they moved around a lot…"

Daniel eventually managed to slip out of the house and down to the river, where he stood listening to the water flow and watching the fireworks going up on all sides of Forks, or what he could see of them above the trees. With his eyes now, he could even see some from La Push—a huge step from almost needing glasses just to tell faces apart.

"So is there a reason you've been avoiding me all night?"

Tanya. He'd heard her coming, of course, but there would have been no point in running. He sighed and turned to face her.

"Sort of. It's not you, really. Listen, I know your situation, and I know mine, but…" He squinted in discomfort at the topic. "There was…someone…when I was human…back in Colorado. I just…I'm not ready to move on." It was as close to the truth as he could get.

She crossed he arms and shook her head at him in a completely different reaction than he'd expected. "You could have found a way to tell me that earlier. If you'd have just said so, I could have avoided spending the night uselessly pondering ways to throw myself at you before Alice could stop me."

"You—?"

"Yes, I know what she's been doing. I just couldn't fathom why."

His lips pursed in a wince. "I'm sorry. Even with all the enhancements this life comes with, I guess I'm still just as horrible at some things as I used to be."

"I suppose one of those things would be women?" Tanya chuckled lightly.

"Guilty as charged."

She looked at him for a moment and then shrugged. "All right. I forgive you." She held out a hand. "Friends?"

Daniel only hesitated for a moment before taking it. "I can do that."

"Good. I'd be delighted." She smiled as she shook his hand, then let it go and glanced up at the fireworks above them. They watched in silence for a bit before she broke it. "You, I wasn't always the odd one out. Kate was single too, for the longest time, and our other sister, Irina…for a long time it was just the three of us."

"I heard about what happened to her…a little, anyway. Something about a face-off with the Volturi over Renesmee after she was born. I'm sorry."

Tanya sighed, and her breath misted in the cool winter air. "Yes…that's what happened. They wanted to kill her because she was an unknown, a possible liability, they said. We're lucky Alice and Jasper able to track down another half-breed to convince the Volturi that letting the girl live wasn't dangerous. That's the only reason it didn't turn into a fight."

She let out a humorless laugh. "Of course, Carlisle or whoever you heard whatever you know from was probably too good to tell you that the whole stand-off was Irina's fault in the first place. She was the one who told them Nessie existed."

"No, I didn't know all of that." His voice fell. "But they didn't have to kill her. Again, I'm sorry…I know what it's like to lose someone like that."

"Oh?"

Somehow he didn't mind telling her. Maybe it was that she looked like Sarah, or that she reminded him somewhat of Vala in more subtle ways. Maybe it was both…or maybe it was only that she was so quick to understand.

"I was married…god it must be almost fifteen years ago now. She died three and a half years later," Daniel told her quietly.

"Oh, I'm sorry…"

He shrugged.

The number of small explosions in the air above them increased exponentially, and the two of them spun and realized that Emmett, Jasper, and Garrett were out in the back yard now shooting off their own.

"Come on, it's almost midnight!" Edward called.

Tanya grinned. "Well, I'm always up for a good show."

"At least fireworks haven't changed," Daniel agreed.

"Race you back to the house?"

"That's barely even a race!"

"Fine, but I want to race you someday, and don't forget that you're not a newborn anymore. You don't have any advantage; I'll leave you in the dust!"

Daniel smirked and followed her up to the house. "Probably."

* * *

"Happy New Year!!"

The five of them called the exclamation to the sky, echoing the shouts of their neighbors and the gunshots and fireworks of those ignoring the city mandates. Cam broke out the bag of sparklers and smaller ground firecrackers that _were_ legal, and Teal'c and Vala were the first to grab handfuls of ordinance and rush out into the back yard. Well…the jaffa walked excitedly—with dignity.

Carolyn and Landry had stopped by earlier, before heading off for their own plans, and now SG-1 plus O'Neill were in the back yard.

Sam retired to the deck chairs with Cameron and O'Neill, and watched in amusement as the two in the yard eventually began to chase each other. Vala was really smiling for the first time in weeks.

Carter sat back in her chair and sighed. "That's good to see."

"Yeah, it is," Mitchell agreed quietly, and settled an arm around her shoulders. Sam's first reaction was to relax, but she had to force herself not to stiffen up or jerk away when she remembered that Jack was there. She couldn't do that to Cam. But…

She shot a discreet glance in O'Neill's direction. If he'd noticed, he wasn't looking at them now. Well…there was no point in hiding anything—not from Jack—not as long as they'd know each other. That wouldn't be fair.

Teal'c, meanwhile, was scouting a flat spot on which to place a typical firework that sat on the ground and shot colored sparks in the air. Once he found a good place, he backed away and let Vala light it with a burning sparkly. The wick burnt a bit quicker than she thought and she was still close when it went off and began spewing. Vala jumped farther away with a squeal, and the boys on the deck chuckled. Sam was sure Teal'c was grinning too.

"Daniel was always misjudging them like that," Jack said after a moment, once the spark spewing firecracker had died out and Teal'c and Vala had moved on to something else. "Something was always blowing up in his face when we did this."

Cameron raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Despite the pang in her chest Sam couldn't help laughing a little at the memory.

O'Neill answered, smiling to cover the sadness with humor. "Oh yeah. Usually it was nothing big, you know. He wasn't hurt, just burned his fingers some most years—it was just funny 'cause he could never avoid it."

"It was only the first year that we had to take him to the emergency room," Sam added. "Even then it wasn't really that bad, but he moped around the base looking like a mummy for days before he got the bandages off of his face."

"Huh. I guess he finally had his act together by the time I got here," Cameron shrugged.

Jack winced then, enough that she even saw it in the dark. "Yeah. I was real proud of him, the past few years…" He trailed off, silently refusing to elaborate, but he didn't have to say anything for them to know he wasn't only talking about firecracker handling.

Sam took a deep breath to calm the pain and focused on Teal'c and Vala in the yard again. They hadn't heard any of the conversation. As far as Vala was concerned, that was a good thing. The last thing she needed right now was backwards momentum.

Cam tugged on her shoulder a little. "Come on, let's get out there."

"No thanks, I'll just—"

"No buts! It's New Years. Get up."

It took a couple more tries on his part, but Sam finally relented and let him drag her out into the yard with Teal'c and Vala. "What about you, sir?" he asked of O'Neill.

"I _will_ sit right here—but hand me a couple of those sparklers."

The five of them wandered back inside after another hour or so. It was at this point would typically make a unanimous decision either to just camp out the rest of the night, or head their separate ways home. There were several factors that contributed to the decision.

Tonight, Sam noticed O'Neill speak briefly to Cameron and Vala, and after a moment they both seemed to agree to something and headed for the front door.

"What's going on?" Sam asked, catching them in the entryway.

Cam detoured back to her for a hug. "Vala and I are leaving," he explained in her ear. "The general wants some time with you two," he said, glancing in Teal'c's direction.

"Oh…" she breathed. "Is that okay?"

He smiled a little. "You guys go a lot farther back. I'm not arguing with this one, and neither is Vala. I can always come over later."

"Right."

Cam kissed her briefly, and followed Vala out to the vehicles.

Because she hadn't expected to see him there, Sam winced when she realized that Jack was just outside the entryway. She didn't mean for him to see it, either, but it seemed he had anyway.

"Something wrong?" he asked casually.

Sam couldn't help glancing around for Teal'c, for an excuse not to have this conversation…but she didn't see him anywhere at the moment. "I—I…I…uh…" She gestured wordlessly to the door, where Mitchell had just been.

O'Neill pointed the same direction. "What, that?"

She nodded, not sure what to expect but certainly not expecting what came.

Jack just shrugged. "What about it."

Her mouth gaped open before she could stop it. "That doesn't bother you?" That, too, she'd blurted before she could think.

"Why would it bother me?"

For some reason, that hurt. "I don't know…"

The casual expression grew tender, and Jack smiled a little. "Hey…it's okay. I didn't mean that how it probably sounded."

Sam swallowed, with confusion suddenly the most prevalent emotion on her mind. "Then what…?" She trailed off, but he didn't answer for a long moment…and she realized she was seeing a side of him that didn't come out very often.

He began slowly. "Carter…Sam. I think we both know what's…gone on beneath the surface, in the past. But…I also think that I always knew you'd outgrow me eventually." He smiled. "I was never good enough for you; I was just waiting for you to figure out you could do better, I guess."

"S-sir, Jack, this…it's not about you. There's…nothing _wrong_ with you…"

"But you love him now."

She blinked.

"I'm old, not blind," he chuckled.

Sam's cheeks burned suddenly, and she stared at the floor. "I'm sorry…" she whispered.

"For what? You didn't do anything. Honestly, Carter, I'm not taking this personally. You deserve someone like him."

"But…are _you _all right with this?" she managed eventually, still studying her shoes. She heard him come closer, and after a moment she felt his warm hands gently take he shoulders between them. Tentatively she looked up, and he was smiling.

"Sam, all I want is for you to know that I'm always here for you, in whatever way you need. If that's a best friend, then hey; that's perfect. I think we've gotten pretty good at that one over the years. As long as you know I'm not going anywhere."

She hugged him then, much more fiercely then when he showed up at the door. "Thank you."

"Any time…"

There was silence for a few moments, and Sam just held on. She determined that Teal'c must have realized something was going on and slipped into the back of the house. "You know, I always thought that would be a lot harder," she said after a moment.

Jack snorted good-naturedly. "Well hey, it wasn't _easy_."

She laughed a little into his chest. "No." She didn't realize until she pulled back some that she was crying, and she laughed in embarrassment and swiped at them. "Sorry, I'm sorry."

"Hey, it's okay," he told her for the second time that night. He wiped away some of the tears himself, and grinned when she looked at him in confusion. "What are friends for?"

Sam really laughed, finally, and kissed his cheek. "I think we can tell Teal'c to come out of hiding now." _We have a lot of catching up and reminiscing to do. _

* * *

After New Years, the Cullens and Denalis easily decided that Tanya's family should stay a while longer. It had been a while since their last visit, after all, and with no one living in the main house that ever needed sleep, suddenly having five more people wasn't such a big deal. Daniel certainly didn't mind; if he was going to get used to this life, he might as well make as many friends as possible, and he liked the Cullens' honorary extended family.

It wasn't so bad having Tanya herself around, either. Being the only two singles in this house of such unique individuals—all living this strange life under the human radar—gave them a common basis on which to build a strong friendship. It turned out that vampires were different from humans in visiting habits, too. The Denalis stayed for nearly two months.

Tanya and Daniel took to hunting together, at first only for convenience. Soon it became an easy excuse for having conversation out of the hearing range of the others—not that there was anything to hide, but it was a relief to Daniel not to have to hold a conversation and control his thoughts because of Edward at the same time. He could let himself miss Vala when he away from the house…but eventually, he discovered that he liked being around Tanya because it could make him forget…just for a little while.

"You've been studying that herd for quite a while. Is there something particularly interesting down there?"

Her voice broke into his thoughts, and Daniel twisted his gaze away from the deer that he hadn't really been looking at. "What? No…I'm sorry."

"Were you spacing out on me again?" Tanya smirked.

"A little. Sorry."

"Not a problem, but I _would_ like to eat sometime today."

"Right. Let's go."

Daniel took a deep breath, purposely taking in as much of the warm, damp scent of the small deer herd as he could. It only burned his throat a little. It wasn't nearly as appetizing as the larger game they hunted higher in the mountains, or…He stopped the thought in its tracks on focused on the animals below them on the ground. Their scent was at least enough that he could easily push thought aside and give in to the instincts.

"I've got left!" Tanya whispered enthusiastically. "Immediately she launched herself off the thick branch they were sitting on, and Daniel followed her, going in on the right side of the herd. Both of them had claimed a kill before the deer even realized what was happening. Then they scattered, but the two vampires left their first victims only momentarily, too take down a few more before the herd ran off. Daniel still couldn't help but wince when he snapped the animals' necks, but it was much better than letting them suffer—and better than killing innocent people.

He and Tanya drained their kills, disposed of the bodies, and headed back for the house. Daniel's jeans and t-shirt were a bit wrinkled, but not a hair on Tanya's head was out of place. Well, then again she had been doing this for much longer than he had. At least he'd made significant improvement over the way he'd looked after his first hunt. The human part of his mind shuddered away from the terrifying memory.

Soon they dropped out of their run for a slower, walking pace that was more conducive to dialogue. Tanya was asking more questions about his education, though he wandered what kind of interest a vampire would have in the University of Chicago.

"It's hard to find a human as well educated as one of us," she explained. "But it seems that you were."

"Well, I never thought about that way…"

She grinned. "Because of how long we live, we have plenty of time for study. It's fascinating how much you already know though you haven't lived much at all, compared to many of us."

"I hope that's a good thing."

"Of course it is!" Tanya laughed. "You're intriguing, Daniel Cullen, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

He was going to ask just what she meant, but she brushed his shoulder and motioned in the direction of the house. "Care for a race?"

Daniel rolled his eyes. "You've already beaten me twice. Must I suffer further humiliation?"

She grabbed his arm eagerly. "But we've just hunted. We've never raced right after a hunt before. Maybe you can beat me _now_."

"Somehow I doubt it."

"Come on, Daniel, _please_?"

When she looked at him with those wide eyes behind those strawberry curls, he couldn't say no again. "All right, all right." He took off immediately, but she didn't protest. She only laughed and zipped after him.

Of course, he didn't say in the lead for long. Tanya passed him up and won easily.

* * *

Vala ignored the looks Cameron and Teal'c gave her when she dropped into a chair at SG-1's usual table—with a tray heaped with food. It was apparent they'd been a little weirded out about that in the past few weeks.

Well, fine. They could get over it. Besides the fact that she needed the extra sustenance for the baby, it was a good cover the bump under her shirt. It hadn't been there long, but she couldn't really completely hide it anymore, either. Let them think it was the food for a little while longer.

"You're going to have to tell them so," Sam whispered when they left the commissary ahead of the men.

"Oh, I know," she sighed. "I've been trying to decide the best way to do that. You know Cameron will overreact, and Teal'c…well, I'm not worried about his reaction, just…" she winced, "what he'll think of me."

Sam put an arm around her shoulders for a moment. "It'll be fine. We all love you; you know they'll still be here for you, even after they know."

And Sam had certainly been there for her in the past two or three months. Carter had been the one helping her look up just how to take care of herself, and bringing her prenatal vitamins when she didn't have an excuse to go off base. It was a good thing she'd mentioned them in the first place or Vala wouldn't have known Earth had such a thing. Besides general guidelines for keeping oneself healthy, pregnancy on worlds such as Tomin's and planet where she'd been born had been pretty much touch-and-go.

She was sure that the Ori's will for the girl was the only reason Adria had survived so long inside her without nourishment, when Seevus had chained her in the middle of town and left her. This wasn't like that. It was only a normal human baby. She wasn't taking any chances with this child.

Vala smiled at her friend and crossed her arms over her middle, now that they were alone in one of the residential corridors. "Thanks." Somehow stretching her mouth set off the headache that had been lingering under the surface all day, and she grimaced and slapped a hand up against the wall to keep from toppling over from the sudden dizziness.

Sam yelped in alarm and caught her other arm. "Vala?"

"I'm fine; I should probably just get to the bathroom."

Carter nodded in understand. "Okay. You let me know if you need anything, all right? If you think something's wrong, you call me—or better yet call Carolyn. She should know soon, anyway. She should have _already _known. With that naquidah in your blood you're a little different, remember?"

"Right, right." Vala nodded absently and broke off toward her room. "If it makes you feel any better I'll call you tonight so you know I'm fine." Sam called an affirmative after her, and she got to her room with no incident, though her head still hurt and she was even more queasy than usual.

_It's nothing. I suppose a typical pregnancy is just going to be rougher for me than having some Ori-human hybrid in the womb._

The usual pain sliced through her heart at the memory of her first daughter, Adria. As much as she told the others that she didn't think of the Orici as her child—as much as she told _herself_ the same—her heart still clung to the memory and yearned for the one she'd never had: holding her child as a newborn.

Was that why she'd done this? Was that why she hadn't asked Daniel? Because it wasn't so much him as the desire to have a child of her own? No…she loved Daniel…she wanted to have _his_ child…It wouldn't have meant the same thing if it were anyone else's.

But she stopped the thoughts there before that pain could take hold and torture her again. _It's only me and the baby now…_

She stopped and glanced at the picture on her dresser, the most recent picture of SG-1, taken along with Jack O'Neill, Carolyn, and General Landry earlier during the New Years party. It wasn't perfect, not overly joyful, but still all right. Everyone was smiling, even herself. She was squashed between Cameron and Teal'c, with their arms around her, almost grinning. She was sure it was the first time any of them had looked that happy in a long time.

_And my friends._

* * *

The Denalis had finally decided that it was time for them to be heading home, but now Daniel wasn't sure he wanted them to. Not that it was such a big thing. It really wouldn't take even a day to get to them if he wanted, either running or by car. He could visit whenever he chose, stay as long as chose. That was how close they were to the Cullens.

Goodbyes were short, but warm, and Carmen and Eleazar, Kate and Garrett were already loaded in the car when Tanya suddenly decided to hang back. She went to Daniel, and the other Cullens drifted away.

"I've had a wonderful time here," Tanya grinned. "A much better time than I've had a in a while." She chuckled. "There hasn't been much new about the Cullens in a while."

Daniel chuckled. "Come on; I'm not that cool."

"You underestimate yourself."

If he could have blushed, he would have. "Well…"

"Don't worry; that's a good thing. Strangely enough I find your modesty charming. I do hope you come to visit soon."

"Uhm, yeah, sure. We'll see…" he spluttered, not sure how to respond. He only wanted to be her friend, and she'd understood that. He hoped she still did, because he couldn't…here, with Edward in the house he couldn't actively think about it, but he couldn't—

And then, while he was busy worrying, Tanya kissed him, and the thoughts fled to the farthest reaches of his mind. In an instant, he was kissing her in return, and he was enjoying it. His mind lost its focus, the focus he'd built up over so much time, to keep Vala safe, to keep Edward from seeing anything in his thoughts.

Suddenly Daniel remembered kissing her, remembered how it had burned his throat, and how _breakable_ she had seemed, and how this wasn't like that. It was different, easier, not painful at all, just a kiss, but it wasn't Vala…

In the next instant he was gasping, breaking away, trying to choke back the horror to keep from hurting Tanya feelings. He succeeded, barely.

But he knew that he couldn't take back the other mistake, the one possibly even more dangerous. He couldn't take back the thoughts.

Tanya smiled at him a little, probably assuming that it had simple been a little too much for a first kiss. She let go of him and backed off a bit. "All right; I'll give you your space for now," she teased. "Come see me some time?"

Daniel nodded absently, struggling to keep the dismay off of his face. It seemed to work, because Tanya flitted outside to the car, and moments later she and her clan pulled out of the long driveway.

He turned slowly, stiffly, toward the stairs, sensing that Edward was there now. The other vampire's dark golden eyes bore into him with an intensity Daniel had never seen before, and when Edward spoke it was with an absolute firmness.

"We need to talk."


	13. Chapter 13

Okidoki, here ya go finally, lol. Hope you enjoy the chapter; can't wait to hear from ya'll. have a great day!

Chapter 13

Sam tracked back to Cam's small office before going home. She hoped he wouldn't be there—that he had gone home—but it wasn't to be. There he was, forlornly shuffling through a stack of overdue paperwork.

"I'm never gonna get all this done, you know."

She chuckled and leaned against the side of the desk. "Sure you will. The stack's already smaller than it was last week."

Cameron sighed. "It was just so hard to focus on paperwork after…" _After we found out Jackson really did go and get himself killed_. She could hear the rest of the sentence without him needing to say it.

"She had to clear her throat then. "I uh…I've got a good stack to take home with me, too."

"Yeah. I think I'll stay here. It's easier to make myself do it if I'm in the office."

"Okay." Sam nodded. She leaned down to kiss his cheek. "I'll see you in the morning. Don't stay up _too_ late, all right?"

She thought he was nodding, but his head dipped down too far. "Owww…"

"What is it?"

"Headache," he sighed. "All day."

"Then you shouldn't be doing this paperwork," she said firmly, hands on hips. "Come on, I'll drive you home."

Cam waved her off. "No thanks…I think I'll just hit the hay here."

"You sure?" she frowned.

He smirked. "Easy access to heavy meds if I don't feel better by morning."

Sam sighed and shook her head at him. "Fine."

He motioned her closer, and she took the hint to move in and let him kiss her before she left. Despite however much his head was pounding, that went a little longer than they intended. When she finally pulled back, reluctant to go, she let her forehead rest against his.

"Sam…"

"I know," she said quietly. But what else was she suppose to tell him? In no more than a month or two Vala would go on maternity leave at least from off-world missions, and if Cam was moved to another team SG-1 would be only Sam and Teal'c, until Vala was on her feet again. Three was all right but the two of them couldn't go out on their own….

She and Cam had to keep this under wraps, at least until Vala had the baby. He would understand once he knew about the pregnancy.

Sam just hoped Vala would tell the others soon, so he wouldn't think she was trying to put him off.

* * *

Daniel could see the tension in Edward's shoulders as he led the way back across the river and out into the forest through the falling darkness, farther than they'd ever gone to speak before. Edward wasn't taking any chances. Finally he stopped abruptly and whirled to face Daniel, who barely managed to stop short of him even with the improved reflexes.

"You were seeing a human woman." It wasn't a question.

He nodded. "It was months ago. I stopped it before it could go any farther."

"But it wasn't just any human woman; it was the woman who was with you when you were attacked. I recognize her. That mean she knew you before, and it means she had to have known when you were seeing her that something had changed you," Edward said tightly.

Daniel sighed, because he couldn't lie to Edward. He couldn't tell him that Vala was just used to strange, couldn't tell him that she hadn't demanded specifics, or that he hadn't given. But the truth was there in the front of his mind before he got around to saying anything, and Edward growled low in his throat. "So she knows everything?"

"I didn't have a choice, Edward. You don't know her. She saw me by accident, and I had to explain or she would have put herself in more danger looking for answers than she is by knowing."

"You don't know that."

"I wasn't going to take the chance!"

"Then why didn't you make sure she knew to keep quiet, and leave?"

His mouth opened and closed a few times, but he couldn't answer that—not without the fear of more wrath. Not that Edward would hurt him, but he hated even the thought of upsetting his new family, after everything they had done for him.

Edward stared at him for a moment, and Daniel tried to shut the truth into the back of his mind, but he was thinking about Vala now, and he couldn't stop—not after what had just happened with Tanya.

"You love her."

Part of him told him to deny, to save the Cullens the trouble, but he couldn't. "It's why I left," he admitted quietly. "I told her the truth to keep her safe, but then I couldn't leave at first, until I realized I was only putting her in more danger by being there."

There was silence for a while, too long. Daniel ran through the time he'd spent with Vala in his mind, letting Edward see what was relevant for himself. Edward paced, something vampires rarely do. They had no need for absent motion, yet he was apparently disturbed enough to consciously do it anyway. That didn't bode well. Daniel remained silent for as long as he could, waiting, wondering.

"There's no danger to any of you. She knows you didn't know about her. None of you are at fault."

"Perhaps not, but now _I_ know. _That_ isn't what worries me though; it's _her _safety. You should never have gone back to Colorado in the first place, even to look. What were you thinking! If you hadn't, none of this would have happened."

Daniel's hands balled into fists. "I know that. I'm _sorry_, but you can't understand…" _You were never human as long as I was. None of you had the kind of ties to your human life that I have…had. You don't know what it's like trying to move on._

Edward sighed. "You're right. I can't know that. I can only know what I see in your thoughts, and from that it seems hard enough. I'm sorry it's like that for you, but you know we can't do anything about it. I wish we could. But we can't. The laws are laws for a reason."

"I know," Daniel swallowed. "But…she'll be all right, won't she? That's why I left. She'll be safer that way. She knows not to say anything. No one else will ever know…"

Edward shook his head. "Unfortunately, with the Volturi there is never that assurance. There is any number of ways they could become aware of her in the future. I suppose there is a better chance of her remaining safe for a little longer if you stay away from her, but at this point there really isn't much difference one way or the other."

"What are you saying?"

"I don't know, Daniel. Maybe I'm saying that I don't know everything. But I do know this: Human women cannot be underestimated. Some of them, at least. I made that mistake once."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that I tried to leave Bella once, when she was still human. I wanted to protect her, let her live her human life. I thought she would be better off without me. I thought she would let go of me once I was gone, but I was wrong. She was so much more stubborn than I ever imagined."

Daniel stared at him. "You—I didn't know that."

Edward tensed again. "Of course not. We don't like to talk about it. We don't like to _think_ about it. We're together now, and we have forever. That's all that matters."

Neither of them said anything at first. The silence was deafening, even though both of them could hear the sounds of the forest much better than humans. Those noises seemed to die away.

"Then what am I supposed to do?" Daniel asked finally.

"I can't make that choice for you. This is a different situation. You two are different people. Me…I wouldn't have been able to keep it up. I would have gone back to her eventually even if circumstances hadn't brought us together again before that. I couldn't live without her." Edward gave him a piercing stare. "I'd say that's a good way to determine what you should do. How do you feel?"

The air he needed to speak stuck in his throat. "I…I don't know."

"Yes you do."

Daniel snorted. "Are you suddenly developing the ability to read the subconscious mind as well?"

Edward shrugged. "No, not at all—but I know you. You want us to think you're happy. _You_ think you're happy. But you're not."

"Maybe that's true…" he hedged, because he knew Edward was probably right. "I don't even know anymore. But…what does any of that matter if I'm trying to protect her?"

"Did you not hear what I said a moment ago? At this point it won't make much difference in her safety if you stay away from her or not. She knows, and that's not going to change."

Daniel paused. "Shouldn't you be more angry with me?"

"According to certain principles, yes, but then again I got myself into a very similar situation not that long ago. I can't exactly judge, now can I?"

He huffed. "No…I guess not. But you should. I don't want to do anything stupid, Edward, not after everything I messed up going back there in the first place. I hope Vala's moved on, but I can't know…and I know I hurt her when I left. What am I supposed to do?"

"I can't tell you that," Edward reiterated. "Again, it would have been better for both of you if you hadn't gone back there…if you hadn't fell in love with her. Neither of you would have been hurt. There's no denying that it would have saved everyone on both sides a lot of trouble." His voice fell to a whisper. "But there's no going back now, and that's something you have to accept."

Daniel stood stock-still, eyes wide even though he wasn't sure. The rest of the information was already processed—thanks to the improvements to his mind. But that didn't mean he could accept all of it so quickly. Was Edward trying to say he should go back? After everything he'd gone through to keep Vala safe? After leaving?

"It _is_ a bit awkward, returning, even if no-one admits it. You have to accept that you made a mistake. But if you can be with her, is that so much to do?"

"But _can_ I be with her?" he asked, strained. He hardly dared believe it, after everything seemed to point to the fact that he would have to leave, that it was the only option that made sense.

Edward's eyebrows went up. "I can't answer that, either."

"But—"

The other vampire held up a hand. "Don't try to come to a conclusion tonight, Daniel. This is something you should think through. With both decisions I spent so much time agonizing…maybe too much time, but you _should_ think, long hard. Despite anything I've said, none of this is to be taken lightly."

Daniel let out a puff of air. "I know."

"I'll leave you alone," Edward said quietly.

He shrugged. "I don't have to worry about you overhearing my thoughts now. There's no point to staying out here. But…thank you." _I think._

Edward nodded once and was gone in an instant, back toward the house, leaving Daniel to get there at his own pace.

Renesmee was waiting for him just inside the glass back door when he arrived at the house, and as he shut the door behind his she touched his arm. He saw an image from her, a partial view from the top of the stairs of Tanya kissing him, the fact that she'd seen what of the reaction he'd let slip. Daniel felt the question, knew the girl was asking if he was all right.

"I'll be fine," he winced, and she hugged him wordlessly. "You don't have to worry about me, Nessie…thanks."

Bella and Edward came down the stairs then, and waited until their daughter let go of him.

"Come on…it's time to head home for the night," Bella said then.

Daniel watched them go and headed up to his room. He dropped into the chair at his desk and let his head rest on his arms.

* * *

Sam got back to the SGC a little early the next morning, and Cam's car was still there. She hurried down to the base to look for him—to make sure he'd gotten that sleep he needed. Carolyn Lam was the only familiar face in the commissary, and Sam put off breakfast to track back to Mitchell's office. She would probably drop by Vala's room after that, too. Vala hadn't called her last night like she'd promised.

The saw the figure slumped over in the chair before she got to the door. She flung it open, preparing to scold him for falling asleep at his desk.

"I thought you were going to sleep in you room—"

She stopped when she realized that something didn't seem right.

"Cameron?"

There was no answer, and she realized that he was too pale. She could hear his breathing from the door, ragged and uneven.

"Cam!"

Sam all but launched herself to the desk and clamped a hand over his forehead. The skin there was damp and clammy, hot. Holding his head, she detected the nearly unnoticeable tremors that were rattling through him, and she realized that his neck looked red.

She didn't bother looking closer. She couldn't get to the intercom fast enough. "Cam, what's going on!" she breathed anxiously.

The medical team was there in less than five minutes, lead by Doctor Lam—who had no more answer to the question than Sam did.

Teal'c arrived as the medical team was carrying Mitchell out on a stretcher. "What has happened?" he questioned in concern.

"We don't know," Sam groaned. "But I'm going to the infirmary with him. Can you check on Vala for me?"

The jaffa nodded and went to do just that. Sam was pacing in the infirmary ten minutes later when Teal'c carried Vala in, and she was in the same condition.

"Carolyn!"

The doctor was at Sam's side in seconds, and saw Teal'c bringing in the new patient. "Oh no…"

"That didn't sound good. How bad is Cameron?"

"Not good," she grimaced. "We don't know much beyond that yet, but his vitals aren't good. She called for another gurney and instructed her team to put Vala next to Mitchell. It seemed they were dealing with two cases of the same thing…whatever it was.

Teal'c clutched Vala close before allowing the attendants to get her on the bed. "It appeared that this happened while she was sleeping…"

Sam swallowed. "Carolyn…Carolyn, she's pregnant." They didn't have the luxury of keeping it a secret now, not when it seemed that something was so horribly.

One of Teal'c eyebrows arched much farther up than usual.

"What?"

"Three months or so. She was going to tell everyone soon, but she just hadn't gotten around to it yet."

Carolyn opened her mouth as if to say something, thought better of it, and sighed. "We would have found out once we started examining her, but that's good to know beforehand. Thank you."

Sam nodded wordlessly, and the doctor was gone, back to her patients. Sam had crossed her arms tightly in front of her and tensed up before she realized she'd moved at all. Teal'c pulled her into a gentle embrace, and she took it gratefully.

* * *

The ceiling was much farther away when Vala woke up than she thought it should have been. She wasn't really sure; her head hurt too much for a lot of though. Groggily she looked around, felt a tug on one arm. She glanced down and would have jumped off the bed in surprise at the sight of the IV in her arm, but realized that she didn't feel strong enough to do much moving at all.

It took a moment for her to recognize her surrounding—one of the medical isolation rooms. Now she understood the high ceiling, saw the observation windows.

_Something happened…you're sick, _common sense told her. She took that calmly, until she remembered the other life depending on. _The baby!_

Vala looked around more pointedly now, and realized that she wasn't alone in the room, either. Teal'c was sitting in a chair in the closest corner, looking like he was meditating or some such thing, and Sam was pacing between her bed and another…

Cameron.

He looked just as bad as she felt, and _he_ was still unconscious.

She cleared her throat, tried to say something, but that alone was enough to get Sam's attention.

"Vala!" Her friend was at her side, immediately, sinking onto a stool that was already there. "Hey…how are you feeling?" It was asked tightly. Carter looked like she'd been crying.

"Not good…what happened?"

"Teal'c found you in your bed this morning in this condition. I found Cam in his office…" She shuddered.

"What's wrong? With us…"

Sam swallowed and turned Vala's hand over so she could see it. There was on angry red welt there, on the back of her left hand. Strange, she didn't even feel it, but it looked horrible.

"It's some kind of insect bite, probably from the last time we were off-world a few days ago, that recon. It's a delayed reaction…or maybe it always takes this much time. We don't know. Cam has two of these, on the back and side of his neck. He's worse; it doesn't look good right now…" She trailed off.

Vala opened her mouth, but Sam grabbed her hand tightly and went on. "But you're both going to be _fine_, okay?"

She sighed and stared at the ceiling. "They know, don't they?"

"It was a medical emergency; I had to tell Carolyn about the baby. Teal'c was there at the time, because he brought you in, and Carolyn has to report to General Landry…yes. They know. I'm sorry."

"-oesn't matter," Vala said, and shook her head once on the pillow. "Oww."

"Does your head hurt?"

She clenched her eyes shut. "Yes."

"I'll get someone in here to give you something."

Vala nodded, and while she wasn't looking, she was able to ask the next question. "Is the baby all right?"

Hesitation. "Right now, yes."

Vala waited a moment. "This is…worse than you're making it out…to be, isn't it?" The blinding pounding in her head was getting worse by the minute, and speaking was becoming more difficult, much less concentrating.

Silence.

Of course.

The pain clouding her head faded her out until she heard movement on her other side, opened her eyes enough to see a nurse putting something else in her IV. As unconsciousness crept up on her, Vala remembered Sam's silence to her last question. She could think of only one answer, after that.

Well…maybe it didn't matter. If something happened to her, she was sure that the baby would come with her wherever she went—or go somewhere better, even. What was so wrong with that? What was the point of staying here anyway, without Daniel? There were her friends…but this was easier. Maybe this was a good thing.

It was so much easier…

* * *

Alice hadn't bothered him since he talked to Edward, but Daniel was that she knew Edward knew the truth now, about Vala. Doubtlessly she just understood that he needed this time to himself, to think.

But the next afternoon the door to his room flew open, and there she was, wide-eyed and alert. "Daniel, come with me," she ordered. Something about her tone told him not to hesitate.

She dragged him quickly out to the end of the long winding driveway, where his car was already sitting, idling.

"But my keys are in my room…"

"And you think we don't keep extra's for all of the vehicles? But that's not the point here."

"Then what is?" He looked closer, and realized that now that they were out of the house, her expression was much more troubled, even worried. With her ability to know things about the future, she was very rarely worried. "What is it?" he asked anxiously.

"Vala," she said immediately. "I saw her for the first time since before you left her. What something like that happens, it's important, I—" She stopped, bit her lip.

Daniel almost choked. "What? What's wrong with Vala?" It had to be something wrong, or Alice wouldn't look like that. Alice never looked like that.

"Daniel, something happened. She's sick…she could die. You have to go to her now, and you don't have much time."


	14. Chapter 14

Ugh, had way too much school junk to do this week. *sigh* That and other things. Anyway, will try to update LB: SG-1 next. I hope you like this chapter! Let me know. Thanks again! :)

Chapter 14

It was easy to be silent now. It came with the new physiology. Daniel didn't _have_ to breathe, so he didn't, and silence in motion was easy. The airmen in the security center didn't notice him at all.

It hadn't been hard to get here, either. His car was parked across the woods, where he used to park when he came to meet Vala. He'd run from there, and it was easy to pull open the hatch at the top of the access ladder shaft and bend the broken locks back into place once he was inside, so they didn't look broken.

Now he was hidden in the small armory room just off the security center of the SGC, looking out watching the banks of screens as they flipped through the views from the various cameras that kept tabs on the SGC. He knew roughly which screens showed which cameras, and which cameras showed which areas of the base. But he didn't know enough, though he'd already known enough to get here without being seen by anyone or anything.

He needed to find Vala, and he needed to know how he was going to be able to get to her. It took him a few moments to locate the section of screens that showed the camera views from the infirmary area, but after half an hour watching those he hadn't seen her once. Alice _had_ said she was _already_ sick, right?

Daniel swallowed and leaned away from the door for a moment, against the armory wall. It was hard enough to believe he was here, in the SGC again, but harder to believe why. Vala had to be all right…he didn't know if he could save her if she didn't recover.

He'd never wanted anything to happen to her. That was why he'd left…so it was why he was back now. And maybe…just maybe Edward was right. Maybe he didn't have to leave again.

But Vala had to stay alive first.

Daniel quickly moved back to his crack in the door and began looking hard at the security screens again. If she wasn't in the infirmary, where would she be? And then one of the nearby screens changed, and his eyes were drawn to it like a magnet. Even from across the room, on the grainy, not-quite-color screen, he could easily see that he'd found what he was looking for.

It was one of the isolation rooms, and Vala was there in an infirmary bed, not awake. Even now he could tell that she didn't look good. What made it all worse was that she wasn't alone. He could see the other bed, and quickly realized that it was Cameron Mitchell in it—and he looked even worse.

Daniel swallowed. Was that part of why Alice had looked so worried? Was it inevitable? Was one of them going to die no matter what he did?

_I didn't want it to end like this…_

He wanted to get down there right now, but he managed to force himself to stay put long enough to keep an eye on the screen, note how long the intervals were, how long Vala and Mitchell's isolation wasn't shown at all before it came up again. He would need that. With his brain capacity now, he could count and keep tabs on that in the back of his mind and still do whatever he needed to do.

Daniel waited until the late shift change, just to be safe, and slipped out of the security room when the door was open, fast enough that no-one saw him. Then it was a matter of carefully avoiding security cameras and people until he could get to the isolation room.

He made it just as a nurse was leaving from checking up on the patients, and hurried in to duck into the shadows before the doors closed again. It was almost midnight, so even though the infirmary staff would be watching the patients, there shouldn't be anyone else coming in for at least an hour. He hoped. He needed to be able to get to Vala.

When Daniel had listened and was sure there was no one coming, or still close enough to hear anything, he stood from the dark corner and crept quietly to her bedside. Her hair was different again, shorter, and looked freshly trimmed—though now her hair with it's spattering of brown and blonde stripes was damp and matted against the pillow He remembered too perfectly the conversation they'd had in the woods, when he'd commented that she was wearing it straightened again, when he talked to her that first time.

He wondered if this change was his fault, too.

Daniel closed a hand around her barely warm fingers on the bed. He knew if he were human they would have felt ice cold, and it worried him. He brushed the back of his other hand across her forehead, and noted anxiously that it was even more flaming-hot than usual. He saw the bright red spot on her hand, some kind of bite or sore. He didn't know what had done it, but he supposed it must have been the cause of the sickness.

"I'm so sorry…" And there was more than one thing to apologize for. He never should have left…but he'd had good intentions at the time. This wasn't his fault…but he couldn't help but feel guilty.

Tentatively he reached toward her face again, and let his hand rest on her fevered cheek. "Just stay with me…" he whispered. Something peaked, on the monitor. He heard it, but he didn't look up to see what it was. If it were a problem, he would have already the change in her heartbeat. He hoped the sound only meant she was coming around.

Though he wasn't sure how he was going to deal with that.

After another moment her face turned into his hand, and a low sound came from her throat. Daniel sank slowly into the chair that was already beside the bed. He supposed Sam or Teal'c, or both of them must have been in here earlier.

"Vala?" he asked quietly. As much as he wanted to be near her, he didn't want to scare her by being too close when she opened her eyes. Unfortunately, she wouldn't be expecting to see him, so he leaned away a bit more and took her hand again with his free one. "Vala, can you hear me?"

"Course I can hear you," she muttered.

He froze. What right did he have to be here He'd left her, abandoned her. What if she hated him now?

Vala turned clumsily onto her side and gripped the hand on her cheek, and he felt her weakly squeeze his other hand on the bed beside her. She shivered a little.

"You're cold now…you were warm a minute ago," she sighed. "Well at least I'm still dreaming." Her words slurred together enough that he realized immediately that she still had enough drugs in her system to be out of it.

"I'm here, Vala. It's not a dream," he said gently.

Her eyes opened and she smiled at him, sighed. "You're perfect even in a dream." She kissed the hand by her face. "But it's all right; I know you aren't real," she told him groggily. "You don't have to pretend."

Daniel opened his mouth to protest again, but decided not to fight it. Even if she could be convinced he was real, there was no guarantee she would remember any of this in the morning. She might not.

"I love you," he said quietly. "You need to hang on. You can get through this. You have to get better, okay?"

She shrugged weakly, eyes closing again. "Don't know…"

"Don't know what?" he frowned.

"If I want to," she mumbled.

He had to remind himself to take a breath to be able to speak. "W…what?" Or maybe _this_ was what had Alice worried. She saw decisions. "Why?" he asked desperately.

"I'm never going to really see you again—not even when I do die, 'cause you'll live forever…so what's the point of delaying the inevitable? Everyone dies."

Daniel tightened his grip on her hands, barely able to focus enough to make sure he didn't crush them. "Vala…Vala, no. You have to hold on. You can't…you can't die now."

"Why not?"

"I-I need you…"

"You're not even here," she whispered.

That strange feeling, the one in his chest and throat that replaced the tightness caused by human tears…it was worse now than it had been in a good while. "Yes, I am." His voice broke.

Vala frowned and opened her eyes again. She looked at him through the induced haze of medication. "Hey…no being sad," she slurred. "-t's my dream. I need a good dream."

Daniel swallowed everything back as best he could. He was here for her, not for him. He was here to keep her alive if he could. If making her happy would help, he would do it. "Okay…"

She gave a pitiful tug on his hands, beckoning him closer. He came willingly, and pressed a gentle kiss on her forehead. "I love you." His mental timer was almost at it's end. "I'll be right back."

Her brow furrowed. "You have to leave?"

"Not really. I just have to go over there in the corner for a few minutes."

"Why?"

No more time! "I just do, I'm sorry," he said quickly, and zipped back into the shadows, out of range of the security camera. The security screen would show this room for a few minutes, and he could come out again. He wished there were a better way to do this, but he couldn't change that. At least he was here.

Finally.

Vala looked around, bewildered for a moment, and he realized that she probably hadn't understood the last thing he said. He might have been speaking to quickly for her human ears to follow. He'd probably disappeared too quickly too. He'd have to remember not to do that anymore for now.

Daniel was more than relieved when he'd counted out the minutes, and he was sure it was safe to emerge. He came out at a human pace, glancing at Mitchell as he went. The colonel looked even worse up close, and Daniel grimaced before drawing up next to Vala's bed again. He realized now that Mitchell's readings spoke more of a coma state than unconsciousness.

At first it looked as if she'd fallen asleep again, but then she blinked up at him. "Oh. There you are." She giggled. "Are you going to be funny, then?"

"What?"

"Disappearin' like that. You're a strange dream." She held a hand up against her forehead. "Oww…"

He sat down again and took her other hand again, careful not to bother the red sore. "What is it?"

"-'m sick. My head hurts."

He had to try not to laugh at the obvious statement, and he took it as a good sign. "Right…I'm sorry. But it'll go away. You have to get better, remember?"

She only shrugged. "You wanna know what else is funny? Besides you?"

"Okay…what?"

"Everything," she said, and giggled. "What everyone thinks. They think I was seeing someone in town before, when I was seeing you—the real you."

"You never told me you told them anything like that…"

She looked at him as if he should know the answer to that. "I didn't before, but I had to tell them something to explain the baby."

Now he _knew_ she was delirious. "We never slept together," he reminded her gently. "It was too dangerous, remember?

She nodded. "I know, an' you were upset about it, 'cause you couldn't give me a family, and I wanted to make it happen for you." She grinned drunkenly and jabbed at his shoulder. "So when you told me to get the blood, that wasn't the _only_ thing I took." She smiled triumphantly. "I made it happen. I founda way for us to have a baby."

Daniel blinked at her a few times, deliberately, because he didn't know how to respond to that. Surely it was just the drugs talking…surely she hadn't—

"Vala…you're on medication, because you're sick. You're imagining things."

She frowned at him. "No m'not."

"Yes, you are. There's no way we could have children. Not while I'm...like this. It's not possible—not without killing you," he explained again. "And I want you to be able to stay human, so we didn't do that. We _can't_ have children."

It hurt all over again, saying it. He hadn't always wanted family, but in recent years, having the friends he did, doing what he did, everything that had happened…the paternal instincts were free before he realized it. He wanted children now. He wanted to be a father, now more than ever, since he had found someone to love again after Sha're.

But now that could never happen.

"Yes, we _can_," Vala protested. "We already are. We're gonna have a baby."

Daniel swallowed and leaned closer, brushing her forehead with his lips. "Listen, I know you want to, but—"

"Why don't you believe me!" she cried suddenly. Even as he shushed her, afraid someone else would hear, Vala feebly shoved the blankets down away from her torso and smoothed the infirmary gown over her stomach. "See?"

And there was a bump there—a distinct, round bump. But…couldn't she have just gained weight? Stress? His fault because he'd left her?

"N no, I'm not fat," she grumbled. "You're a vampire in this dream. You've got your super-hearing ears. Can't you hear him?"

"W-what?"

"Listen," she insisted.

He didn't want to. Part of him didn't want to believe it even as another part of him did, but he listened. Daniel focused on her stomach, tuning out all other sounds until he was left with one that he realized he'd been hearing since he came in the room. He just hadn't known what it is was.

It was soft, faint, a different speed than usual, but…he couldn't deny what it was. Daniel knew what it was, even if he couldn't quite believe it.

It was the beating of a tiny, perfectly human heart.

The sound of a new life.

Vala squeezed his hand and smiled at him, but her eyes were already drifting shut again. "See…? I told you…"

There was nothing he could have said to make the moment any better…so he didn't. He knew he would be annoyed later, probably even angry…but right now it didn't matter. That tightness in his chest threatened to overwhelm him, but he chose to ignore it and bent to rest his forehead against hers.

A baby…Vala was going to have a baby.

_His_ baby.

"I'm sleepy," Vala mumbled. "Does that mean I'm waking up?" She looked up groggily into his eyes. "Will you be here when I go back to sleep?"

"I'll do you one better," he whispered. "I'll be here when you wake up."

She smiled contentedly, and in seconds she was asleep again. Daniel sat where he was for a moment, stroking her hair away from her face, until it was time to get out of the way of the camera again. He stayed in the shadows after that, waiting for the door to open again. It didn't take long, and half an hour later he was able to slip past a nurse and get out of the isolation room.

He had to get away, just for a little while. Vala would be asleep until morning, most likely, and…he had to think.

He hadn't been prepared for any of this when he'd jumped in the car at Alice's warning and roared off for Colorado. This wasn't supposed to happen. He'd never planned to come back here at all.

The mountain offered an easy place to get out of the way and let the view soothe his nerves. It was different than Washington, but it was more familiar. As Daniel stood under the trees near a ledge he could almost feel his friends beside him. They'd all hiked up here more than one, in the past.

He remembered the first time, the first year. It was Sam's idea, but Jack was the one who backed it despite the condition of his knees. He had to admit that at the time he hadn't understood what the point was.

Now he did.

This was home…and no matter how much he tried to tell himself it was elsewhere now, he knew it couldn't really be true yet. He was still tied to this place, to these people.

And now…

He groaned quietly. "Now what?"

* * *

Sam was barely holding herself together by the time the next morning came, and she knew it, too. It was all she could do not to break into a dead run on the way back to the isolation room, as early as she could justify being awake and bothering the infirmary staff to let her in. She had never left the base; she gotten what little sleep she could in her quarters.

How could things go so wrong so quickly? Daniel was already gone…but they were going on. But now Vala and Cameron were sick, in danger for their lives along with the baby Vala was carrying. Cam hadn't woken up once, either. If he didn't…

She pushed away the memory from yesterday. "He's in some type of coma, and we're losing him fast," Carolyn had told her regretfully. "If he doesn't wake up in the next fourty-eight hours…"

Even though they were all closer than ever before, SG-1 was falling apart at the seams.

Teal'c was already waiting outside the isolation room door when Sam ran up, and he nodded to her and followed her in as a nurse finally let them in. Carolyn was inside, checking the readouts.

"Is there any change?" Teal'c asked.

Carolyn sighed and shook her head. "They're no better—but no worse, either. I'm sorry; I don't know what to tell you."

Teal'c nodded and gravitated between the two beds with their silent patients. Sam swallowed and fell in beside him, hoping one of them would wake up, to help calm her fears. There was no guarantee that Vala wouldn't fall into the same coma-like state Mitchell was in.

And right now, it looked like it was over once things were that bad.

_Please, please don't let us lose them…_

Vala did stir, after a little while. Both of them were at her bedside when her eyes flickered open up at them. "Hi…"

"Hey," Sam smiled back.

"How are you feeling, Vala MalDoran?" Teal'c questioned gently.

She looked more bewildered than the last time they had seen her. "I…I don't know. The same. Head is…killing me. I had a dream…" Suddenly her eyes were damp and far away. "Daniel…"

Sam winced and gave her shoulder a squeeze. "I'm sorry."

Vala shook her head weakly. "No…good dream. He was…here…" she said quietly, her gaze falling on the chair beside the bed.

"That's good," Sam said half-heartedly.

At least Vala didn't notice. "Cam…?"

"No change."

"Oh…I'm sorry," she said tiredly. "You all right?"

Sam shrugged, tried to force another smile. "I've been better."

Vala shifted her focus to Teal'c. "How about you, muscles?"

Sam didn't hear the answer the answer, because a sound behind her had her spinning in sudden hope. "Cam?"

A soft grunt. "Wh…?" A louder one. "Oww….Ow!" The tone was frightened, confused.

"Cameron?" She crossed to his bed quickly, as the readings shifted to tell her that he was, indeed, awake.

"Ow! Ahh…what the—?"

"Cam! Thank goodness." She leaned into his line of sight, but his eyes were still closed. She took his shoulders and called to him. "Cam, take it easy. It's okay; you're at the SGC."

"Sam?"

"I'm right here."

He moaned. "What is wrong with my _head_?" he grated out.

"Something got to you, off-world, we think. It must have been some kind of bug. You were bitten twice. It caused this. You're in an infirmary isolation room."

"Great…"

"You'll be fine," Her voice broke, and she realized she was crying. But she didn't have time to wipe the tears away before Cameron finally looked up at her, squinting through bleary eyes.

"Sam? What are you cryin' for?"

Sam sobbed once and sank into the chair by his bed, clinging to him. "I'm sorry; it's just that you were in a coma for more than two days…and we were afraid you might not wake up."

"Crap…" he muttered, typically. She laughed a little. "That bad, huh?"

She nodded against his arm.

"Does this mean I'm okay now?" he asked, of the fact that he was awake.

"I don't know," she sniffed. "Vala's been awake on and off the whole time…but she keeps getting worse."

Silence at first. "Her too?"

Sam nodded again. Mitchell spit out an expletive, and she didn't have the energy to object to its color.

"I'm not going anywhere," he muttered, and tried to pull her closer. "Not if I have anything to say about it."

As she hugged Cam, Sam thought she saw something move off in the corner, in the shadows by the shelves, but she dismissed it immediately and focused on trying to gather hope.


	15. Chapter 15

I wanted to get more up for ya'll, so I typed this up and uploaded. It's not really long, but there were some important things that needed to happen I wanted to get out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter; can't wait to hear from you! Oh, and I just updated Left Behind: SG-1 yesterday, for those of you who read it. I haven't gotten any reviews on that chapter yet, so I thought I'd let ya'll know. :) Thanks!

Chapter 15

"So? _Was I right_? _Vala is pregnant, isn't she_?"

Out in the woods by the mountain again now, Daniel sighed as he held his cell phone to his ear. "Yes, Alice. She's pregnant."

"Oh_…I'm sorry; I wouldn't have thought she would find someone else so soon_."

Daniel smiled to himself. "But that's not it at all. It's mine."

Hesitation. "_Daniel, I'm sorry, but that's not possible. If it was yours…let's just say things wouldn't have been pretty, and it would already be over_."

He knew that must have something to do with the difference between human pregnancy and human/vampire hybrids like Renesmee, but no-one had ever given him the whole story behind her birth beyond the fact that it was much shorter than normal gestation, and had somehow necessitated Bella's transformation into a vampire. He didn't think he _wanted_ to know the rest.

"No, Alice, you're not understanding me. The baby is human."

"_What_?" She growled in frustration. "_I hate that I don't know her as well as you. I can't see her well at all. I should already know this. All right, what do you mean? How can it be your child if it's human_?"

Daniel winced. "Well…that's the uncomfortable part. She uh…she was upset. I'm pretty sure she took a few more samples from the base than I asked for. That seemed to be what she was trying to tell me, but again, she was still drugged."

"_Oh, I see. She used your sperm_."

"Yes, thank you, if you_ really_ want to put it that way," he answered, rolling his eyes. "Just…she's Vala. I don't think she thought it through. She's getting better at thinking about things first, but she's not perfect. I'm not really sure if she planned to end up pregnant or not."

"_Wouldn't simply planting sperm like that carry a considerably smaller chance of resulting in pregnancy than actual intercourse_?"

He felt his jaw clench a little, wanting to get off of the topic. He didn't want to focus on the aspects of this that bothered him, because in the end that really didn't matter now. The reality was that no matter how it had happened, there was a child on the way and he was the father.

"Probably, but obviously it was enough," he said tightly. "And your point is?"

"_Nothing_," she chirped. "_Just curiosity. Since I don't remember my human life at all I don't know much about human reproduction, after all_."

"Have you satisfied enough curiosity for now?"

"_Yes_." There was a pause. "_Oh good, you're planning on sticking around. I knew Edward would talk some sense into you if he found out_." He wondered if that meant she'd figured, or she'd _known_.

He smirked. "Can you tell me the sex of the baby too?"

"_No, it doesn't work like that. That isn't based on a decision_."

"Ah."

"_We didn't know what Nessie was either, until she was born_."

Daniel frowned. "Doesn't Carlisle have an ultra-sound machine at the house?"

"_Carlisle has just about everything here at the house, but an ultra-sound won't penetrate our skin, and there was an extra lining in the uterus just like our skin that was protecting Renesmee_."

He realized she'd just answered many of the questions he hadn't dared ask before. Only vampire teeth and werewolf claws and teeth were sharp enough to penetrate vampire skin. If something like that had been inside Bella, around Renesmee before she was born…

He shuddered, and swayed back against a tree, suddenly gladder than ever that he and Vala hadn't tried anything that could have resulted in a hybrid pregnancy.

"O-Oh…"

Alice spoke up quickly to change the subject again. "_Anyway, I'm glad you're staying_."

Daniel swallowed and shrugged. "Yeah, well, even if Edward hadn't anything to me, I don't think I could leave now. I love her, Alice, and now I have another responsibility. I'm going to be here for her as much as I can."

Silence.

"Alice?"

There was nothing for several long moments, and he realized she must have been seeing something more involved than usual. Considering what they were talking about…he didn't think that could bode well.

Daniel waited another few moments, but still she said nothing, and he couldn't take it anymore. "Alice, please say something," he pleaded anxiously. "What's wrong?"

Finally she spoke. "_Daniel, I…it's hard to explain. I don't know if Vala's going to make it or not. She still doesn't know what she wants_."

He sucked in a breath.

"_But somehow, no matter how much the visions change, I always see the baby_."

* * *

Before Sam left again for the night, Vala caught at her jacket to make her stop. Finally they were the only two in the room, the only two awake anyway, and she needed to talk to her…

"Sam…"

Carter stopped and took the hand that had tugged at her clothes. "What is it, Vala? Do you need something?"

She nodded, barely. "A promise," she whispered, through the blur her vision had become. "Need you…to promise me something."

Sam came down to her level, maybe bending or crouching or sitting in the chair she couldn't tell. "What?" she asked nervously.

"The baby. Don't…don't let anything happen to the baby." Even if she couldn't keep herself alive, even if she didn't _want_ to, Vala couldn't deny the child the life it deserved because of her weakness or her selfishness. It had foolish to think about it before.

Though maybe the dream Daniel she barely remembered had a little to do with the decision to protect the baby.

"Vala, we're doing all we can. You're gonna be fine."

She shook her head again.

"Don't do that. You will be."

"What if I'm not? Sam…if the baby is…in danger, get it out. Don't…don't wait," she breathed as forcefully as she could. "Don't. Let it. Die."

She heard Sam swallow. "B-but what are we supposed to do? It's not developed enough yet. It couldn't survive. Not for another couple of months at the _very_ least."

"I _know_," Vala hissed. "Find someone else. If I can't…"

"To carry it?" Carter asked quietly.  
She closed her eyes and nodded again. "Yes. Anyone, just…so he lives."

Sam tried to smile, but it didn't come out very well. "He?"

"Just a feeling…"

"Oh—" Carter's voice broke off, and there was silence for a long moment. Vala could hear the tears in her friend's voice. "If it would make you feel better…"

Vala managed to squeeze her friend's hand, and opened her eyes to look into the center of the barely discernible blur that was her face. "Yes. Please…please promise. Make sure the baby will live. Please," she whispered. "You can do that…right? Even at this stage?"

A slow nod. "I'm not sure just how far Earth's technology goes with that, but I know with a little easily-accessed off-world help, we could do that easily enough."

"Good."

Sam's head ducked for a moment, and when she picked it up and spoke next her voice wasn't so shaky anymore. "I'll do it. More than anything I want _both_ of you to be all right, but if it comes that, I'll do it. _I'll_ take the baby. I wouldn't be able to trust it to anyone else."

Vala blinked sluggishly. "You…?"

Carter nodded firmly. "I promise."

Vala's eyes shut again, and she felt the few warm tears that slipped down her cheeks, but she couldn't help but help but smile a little. "That's why you're my best friend."

Sam stood and hugged her gently, before leaving. By the time Vala opened her eyes again the lights were down. She stared at the dark ceiling at sleep closed in, wondering, as usual over the last few days, if it was the last time her eyes would close.

Something cold touched her shoulder, and she jerked. Whatever it was closed over her shoulder and tugged a bit, a distant voice asked her to look.

She didn't, and the shock of the startlingly white profile brought her back from near unconsciousness enough to recognize the voice that called to her.

"Vala, please, can you hear me? It's me, it's Daniel. I'm here…"

She still couldn't see clearly, but she stared in wonder at the amber circles that she knew were his eyes. Everything was in place in the image she saw beside her now: The eyes, the voice, the brown hair, the white skin, the cold touch, the concern…

But it couldn't really be him, could? Last night had been a dream.

"Daniel…"

"Yes!" the image cried with joy. Then both of her hand were off of the bed and being held again and a cold, hard chest, and an icy forehead was pressed against hers. So close, the golden eyes were suddenly very clear.

"I'm here, Vala. I'm real. I came back…I'm so sorry. I'm sorry I left. I'm so, so sorry…" the image said with a dry sob. "Please…please live. Please hold on."

She blinked rapidly, trying to make sense of it. "Real?" she asked weakly.

"Yes. I'm real. I'm not leaving this time." The white granite hand that caressed her cheek now felt soft with the relief it brought. "Please fight this. I know you can."

The sickness? Or unconsciousness? She couldn't fight unconsciousness…it was night. The drugs were dripping into her system again, erasing the pain in her head but clouding everything else, dragging her under. He meant the illness. That was what he meant. But could she? Did she even want to fight it?

"Please, Vala. You can get through this; I'll be waiting right here. I'll be right here for you…"

Maybe. Maybe she could. Maybe she should fight. But how?

But she had to. If this was real…

"Daniel," she sobbed. "Daniel, I love you." It didn't matter that he'd left. She knew he thought he'd been doing the right thing. Maybe she would be angry at him later. Now she was too weak to be angry. Vala just wanted him back.

She wanted more than anything for this to be real.

"I love you too," Daniel answered.

And there was no mistaking the tone with which he said it—the way that told her he meant it, the way she had heard more than once before.

The tears were back, and she smiled again, but Vala had no time to say anything else before the drugs pulled her under.


	16. Chapter 16

Sorry ya'll! I kinda got side-tracked by a sudden adiction to Supernatural...which I'm not writing a fic for...(so if you like SPN check it out;))...but I'm back! I'm not stopping my other stories, so don't worry. Anyway, for some reason I had trouble making this chapter come together and flow, and...well anyway, it'll be easier for me from here, so there shouldn't be any more breaks that long. I hope! Anyway, here ya'll go; can't wait to hear from you! Thanks!

Chapter 16

The rock was still there, in the clearing on the mountain, right where he remembered it and large enough to sit on to gather his thoughts as the sun came up the next morning. It had been a rough night.

"This is nice."

Daniel almost jumped. He'd been too gone in thought to hear anyone coming, no matter how well his ears worked now. "Alice! What…what are you doing here?"

"Am I not welcome?" she asked, stepping out into the clearing nearby.

"It's fine…I just didn't expect to see you down here."

She shrugged. "The last time you called it seemed like you could use some support. I thought I should come see how you were holding up."

Daniel stared at her for a moment. "I never told any of you anything more specific than the state. How did you find me?"

"I got lucky; saw a few street signs. Once I was in the area it was easy enough to track you."

"And you did all of that in one night?"

Alice grinned. "You'll be able to track too, once you have more experience."

He shook his head at her. "But I'll never have the visions to help."

"Well, no." She streaked to his side and perched lightly on the other side of the boulder. "So. This is where you've been running off to, hmm?"

"Yeah…here, my old house…that's about it, really." He glanced at her. "You I can't take you to Vala, right?"

"Right…all of that top-secret military whatever. I know. It's all right." She cocked her head at him. "What's up? Bad night?"

He nodded. "No change in Vala, and she's been out all night, but at least she's not getting any worse. Mitchell though…he flat-lined once last night."

Alice's eyebrows shot up. "But you said he'd finally woken up."

"He did. I don't get it either."

"Oh no…Samantha isn't going to be happy when she finds out."

Daniel sighed. "Carolyn was there, and she probably won't tell Sam. There wouldn't be any point. It would only make her worry more. He's stable now anyway."

Alice shook her head. "I wish there were more I could do—more any of us could do. But there's no way to get Carlisle in there, is there?"

"Probably not, no, and I don't know what he could do that Carolyn couldn't." Though of course he couldn't tell her _how_ Carolyn Lam had an advantage in medicine over Carlisle, now matter how good of a doctor Carlisle was.

Alice fell silent for a moment, and then glanced at him again. "You're eyes are dim already."

He raised an eyebrow. "You're the one who rushed me to get out here; I didn't have _time_ to hunt before I left." He sighed. "I should go soon though. That base is full of people…"

Alice nodded. "So it doesn't take as long to feel thirsty, whether you need it or not. I know how it is. It takes some getting used to, being around a lot of them so often."

"I don't really want to go any farther than this though."

She stood. "Come on. We'll go together. I need to hunt too, and I can tell you if anything changes."

Daniel looked at her for a long moment, conflict tugging at him. He didn't want to leave, even for a little while…but he had to hunt. If he wasn't well-nourished, something could happen down there. As much as he hated to admit it, he could lose control.

"All right."

"Good." She smiled encouragingly. "We'll be back in no more than two hours."

* * *

The meeting was held in the general's office, with the doors shut and the blinds pulled down. Landry stood leaning back against the front of his desk, with his people instead of behind the desk and separated. The only others present were Carolyn, Samantha Carter, and Teal'c.

"Last night was…rough," Carolyn began. "Maybe they're not necessarily getting any worse, but they're _still_ not getting any better, and I'm out of options."

Hank scowled. "So you're saying there's nothing we can do but wait this out. We still have no idea if they're going to put through or not."

She sighed. "That's about the size of it."

Landry scrubbed a hand over his face, and just saw Carter shifting uncomfortably. "Colonel?"

Sam swallowed. "Sir…I think we should contact the Tok'ra. We need to know if they'll have someone who can come at a moment's notice—or if someone can come now. Maybe they would be willing to try to help them, and even if it's too serious for them to heal, they…"

Carolyn seemed to know what she was talking about. His daughter opened her mouth and closed it again, wincing a little.

"What?" Landry asked.

"Sir…Vala asked me to make sure the baby survives, if at all possible. We'll probably need the Tok'ra for that, to…" Her crossed arms tightened over her chest. "To transfer the fetus safely if she's not going to make it."

"Transfer it? To who?"

"To me."

Teal'c's eyebrows went up. "To you, Samantha Carter?"

Sam blinked back the tears in her damp eyes. "She's one of my best friends, Teal'c. It's the least I'll be able to do if we can't save them."

Hank looked at her for a long moment. "Are you sure?"

She nodded. "More than sure. I don't want it to come to that any more than the rest of you, but I'll do my part if it does. We have to be ready. We don't know how this is going to play out."

"And I hate it too," he answered grimly.

Teal'c frowned. "Indeed."

"Sir?"

He nodded quickly. "All right. I agree. Contact the Tok'ra."

"Thank you," she answered quietly.

* * *

Sam left the brief meeting feeling drained. She didn't know what else to do. She didn't know if what was left of her family would still be in one piece by morning.

Teal'c walked beside her, and neither of them had to say anything when he stopped her with a gentle hand on her shoulder. She swallowed back a sob and turned to hug him. "What's happening to us, Teal'c?" she muttered. "General Hammond, Daniel, and if we can't help Cam and Vala…" She choked. "We're dropping like flies."

"There is nothing we could have done to prevent what happened to our friends," Teal'c answered after a moment. "And we can only do everything we can for those in danger now."

"I know, it's just…" She let go of him and swiped at her eyes. "I don't know. Maybe after all those years cheating death…it had to stop somewhere."

"Samantha Carter—"

"I'm not saying I like it—or that I think it has to be this way, or anything like that. I hate this. I'm only saying that we have to face reality. People…die," she swallowed, voice wavering. "We can't pretend like we're always going to come through, no matter what. We can't think like that anymore." Her throat ached trying to hold back the tears. "I think that's why losing Daniel hurt us all so much," she whispered. "None of us ever thought it could really happen—especially not to him."

Teal'c nodded slowly, sadly. "I understand."

Sam hugged him once more, briefly. "Anyway, I…I'm gonna go sit with Cam for a few minutes, okay? I'll see you later…"

"I will come at a later time."

She nodded. "Good…good." Teal'c let her go and she made her way back to the isolation room. She was in for a surprise, at least, and she needed it just now.

Cameron was awake again.

"Hey," he smiled weakly. "I was wondering where you ran off to."

Sam hurried into the chair beside him and gripped his hand. "Hey. Are you doing any better?"

He grimaced. "Not really."

"Oh…"

Cam sighed. "Man…this really sucks, too. I had plans for this week."

She managed to laugh. "Oh yeah? What kind of plans?"

He glanced around them for a moment, as if checking to see if they were alone. She couldn't imagine why until he looked back at her, right in her eyes. "Oh, I don't know. I was going to get my life straightened out, I guess—stop pretending I could wait and ask you to marry me. I will be seriously ticked off if I don't get the chance."

Her breath caught in her throat and Sam had to swallow hard to be able to answer. She smiled and pulled one of her hands from his to brush his cheek. "When you have your chance…I'll say yes."

Cam grinned, and after she looked around again, confirmed there was no-one to see, she kissed him.

* * *

Daniel and Alice were halfway back to the mountain when Alice stopped short and cocked a head to the side in curiosity. "Hmm…"

He stopped, too, and came back to her side. "What is it?"

"I'm not sure…I shouldn't being seeing anything going on in that base, but…" She frowned. "Perhaps it's the fact that you're so emotionally tied to Vala; it's letting me see those around her, even though she's not conscious."

"What? What do you mean?"

"I mean I'm getting something. It's not clear, but they're waiting for something. They think it's someone who may be able to help."

_The Tok'ra_, Daniel thought in relief. He knew they couldn't do much with only their hand-held devices…but if one of them was able to try, it might give Vala and Cameron the edge they needed to pull through on their own

"I should get back," he concluded immediately.

Alice smiled. "Of course," she nodded. "Keep me posted if you can."

He winced. "Alice, if this is what I think it is, I may be down there for a while waiting. My cell phone won't work down there; you know that. Look, thanks for coming, but you don't have to stay…"

"It's all right. I'll be around when you do come out again. I came here to be here for you, didn't I? Besides, if this is where you lived before, I might as well take a look around. It's cloudy."

"Okay," he sighed. "Thank you."

She nodded again, then urged him to go on. Daniel didn't hesitate. He swept through the trees and to the ladder that led own into the SGC. It took a bit of time to work his way to the isolation room, but he was still surprised to see that one of the Tok'ra had already arrived.

The male was unfamiliar to him, and he seemed to have already missed the introductions. But that wasn't important. What was important was whether he could help Cam and Vala. Daniel slipped into the isolation room behind the Tok'ra and his friends, and into the shadows again—it was so cliché, considering what he was now, that for some reason in the sudden hope he almost laughed.

* * *

The hair stood up on the back of Sam's neck as she followed Carolyn, Teal'c, and the Tok'ra man into the isolation room, and she turned at the sudden seeming rush of air. She frowned when there was nothing there…until she caught movement at the corner of her eye. It seemed to be coming from the other side of the room, but when she focused it was gone.

She remembered it wasn't the first time that had happened since Vala and Cameron had been moved here…

Sam shook it off and focused on what the Tok'ra was saying.

"I am not certain how much we can do," the host said again. "This appears to be quite serious; however, we will make our best attempt."

"That's all we can ask," Sam nodded quietly.

"We thank you for your effort," Teal'c nodded deeply.

Sam's attention wondered, while the Tok'ra tried. She was too anxious to focus on what he was doing, and in the end it wasn't much at all. All they could hope for was that it would help. _Please... _She and Teal'c lingered behind in the isolation room, and her eyes wondered unbidden back to the darkness across the room.

She wasn't sure why, but she almost felt as if something were watching her back.

* * *

Daniel wasn't sure how long he could stay in the isolation room. More than once he was certain Sam suspected something; finally he made sure to remain frozen until she and Teal'c left for the night. He heard Sam mention that she wouldn't be leaving the base anymore, until this was over in one way or another. She didn't want to risk not being near if she were to…be needed.

He swallowed to himself and settled back against the wall once the room was quiet, listening to the quick, steady rhythm of the unborn child in Vala's womb. He still couldn't help but be amazed at it's existence.

He didn't know how he felt about Vala and Sam's decision. He hoped it wouldn't ne necessary.

The first part of the night was quiet. The nurses went in and out at their regular intervals, and nothing changed…but then it did. Halfway through the night everything went from bad to worse. The monitors began screaming, and the isolation room was never empty.

Daniel pressed himself as flat against the wall in the shadows as he could, knowing he couldn't be seen but paranoid in all the activity anyway. It didn't help that he could all but feel the racing of his heart that would have been there if it were still beating. He could hear the echo of fear in his ears even if his heart wasn't there to remind him of the rhythm. _No...nonononono._

Both Vala and Cameron crashed more than once. Daniel held his breath for hours before either of them were truly stable again. And then…

"Their fevers are breaking," Carolyn commented suddenly, astonished.

Sam and Teal'c, who had long since been roused from sleep, leaned forward in the observation room, and Sam clicked the microphone. "What?"

"Both of them," Carolyn clarified. "Their fevers are coming down. I don't understand it."

"Are you saying that they are beginning to recover?" Teal'c asked immediately.

She shook her head and shrugged. "Maybe…We'll see. I still can't guarantee anything, but…this might be it."

Daniel quietly let out a pent-up breath that he hadn't needed anyway, and glanced at his watch. It was morning now.


	17. Chapter 17

here ya go! Sorry I'm so slow..I have no time anymore...*sigh* Enjoy!

Chapter 17

Consciousness returned slowly, and she felt as if she had been out for weeks. When she could feel enough to move, she turned over, and realized that she couldn't be in any infirmary bed anymore. There was too much room.

And she was cold.

Her head still ached some though, and she didn't want to bother opening her eyes to look. Instead she curled in herself and pulled the blankets around herself more tightly; her own sheets and comforter, she realized faintly. She was in her own bed. Was it over? Was she not sick anymore? Was the baby safe?

But she was too tired to wonder any further.

It didn't take long for Vala to realize that being under the covers was too warm. Maybe she still had some fever? Maybe she wasn't recovered yet…maybe…but she didn't know. She only knew that suddenly she was hot again, but she didn't feel like moving.

A small, frustrated sound escaped her throat, and moment later something smooth and cold slipped around her from behind. Through the blanket, it provided just enough coolness to make her comfortable, but not too cold. Vala sighed and turned into the…embrace?

Vala's eyes snapped open, and suddenly the fact that she had no energy didn't keep her from moving. She jerked back immediately, pushing out with her arms against what she saw beside her. It was a trick! She was going crazy, or it was a cruel joke, or…

She heard herself yelping weakly in shock, and felt the gentle cold grip that fastened around her wrists.

"Vala! Vala, it's okay. It's me, remember? I'm here."

A sob caught in her throat as she stared, wide-eyed. "N-no…you left…"

"I know…" came the quiet response. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have."

A long silence came next, and all Vala could do was stare. It had to a dream—a wonderful dream. He could be here, lying beside her…but…

"It wasn't a dream…." Before. In the isolation room, twice. She remembered that now, the second time a little better than the first. She had been drugged up, hadn't she? That would explain why it was all so hazy.

Daniel smiled timidly. "No. It wasn't a dream. I'm here, Vala…I came back."

Vala sobbed. "Daniel…"

Then he pulled her into his arms again, and she buried her face in his chest. "I didn't think I'd ever see you again," she muttered miserably.

"I'm sorry," he repeated. "I am; I never should have assumed I could just leave…even if you _would_ have been safer if you'd just let me go."

"I don't care," she whispered. "I just wanted you. That's all I want_ now_…" She held on tightly for another long moment, still processing the fact that this was real.

And then she realized again that it _hadn't been a dream_. Any of it.

Her grip on his arms tightened. "Daniel…if I wasn't going crazy, back in the isolation room, then—then you know…" One of her hands went to the bulge under the shirt of the scrubs she was still in, and Daniel nodded slowly.

"Yeah…I know."

Abruptly she let go and looked away, suddenly ashamed. "You must hate me."

His incredulous voice answered from, behind her. "If I hated you for it, why would I be here? How could I ever hate you?"

She swallowed. "Because I went behind your back on this."

Daniel sighed. "I know; and yes, I am a little…irked. But that doesn't mean I hate you. I…guess I can understand why you did it."

"Can you?"

"Yes! Vala…I wanted a family, too. So yes, maybe I'm a little aggravated that you did this without asking first, but that doesn't mean I would have said no if you had. I'm _happy_ about this, Vala."

She blinked a few times, and turned over slowly. "You are."

He smiled gently. "Of course I am." His arms circled her, pulling her closer again. His fingers brushed at the hair dropping into her face, pushing it back. "You're giving me—giving _us_—a chance we wouldn't have had otherwise. I can't hate you for that." He kissed her forehead. "I _love_ you."

Vala felt her eyes sting with tears as she smiled back clumsily. "I love you, too."

* * *

Cameron woke up in the infirmary, unsure of why he'd been moved. It wasn't until he noticed Sam sitting beside the bed, smiling at him, that he realized something must have gone right.

"Hey…what's up?"

She grinned. "We're pretty sure you and Vala are on the mend now. It's almost evening now, but by noon Vala had even improved enough to be sent back to her own room."

He blinked. "Huh. Guess I'm not so lucky."

"Don't worry; Carolyn says you should be out of here in a couple of days if nothing else happens."

"Nice…" he mumbled, rubbing at his forehead. "Still hurts though."

Sam patted his shoulder. "I'll get you something."

"Wait a minute." He caught her hand as she stood.

"Hmm?"

Cam looked at her for a long moment, thought how much more beautiful she was now that she was happy….wondered how he could ever have been so blessed. "Nothing…" He squeezed her hand and smiled, and then let her go.

* * *

A knock on the door dragged her gaze away from him, and when she looked back he was gone, and the bathroom door was already clicking shut. Vala swallowed, having to tell herself again that she wasn't dreaming.

"Come in."

It was Teal'c who looked in, eyebrow raised. "May I enter?"

"Of course, muscles," she smiled. She pulled herself up against the headboard, wincing at the twinge in her temples, and patted the edge of the bed. Teal'c shut the door and crossed to sit there, concern written on his face.

"It is good to see you out of the infirmary. Are you feeling improved?"

Vala nodded—slowly. "Improved from yesterday, that's for sure. I'll be fine. How's Cameron?"

"He has been moved back to the main rooms of the infirmary, but he is improving quickly. Soon he too will be released."

"I suppose Sam's with him right now."

"Indeed. But she will come to see you as well."

Vala just shrugged. "She can stay with Cam as long as she wants," she said knowingly.

"I imagine she will."

Vala smirked, but quickly lost it. She could feel Teal'c's eyes on her, and after a moment she started to squirm.

"Vala MalDoran? Is something wrong?"

Her hands strayed to her middle again. "Sam said she had to tell you all about...about the baby…when we got sick, because Carolyn needed to know for medical reasons and all that…"

"Yes."

She fell silent again.

"Vala? What is it?"

She huffed quietly. "Well, I know you grew up on Chulak and all, and Chulak is very different from Earth. Certain…things are much more frowned upon, where you come from."

He nodded once. "That much is true."

Vala's hands twisted in the comforter, and finally she just spit it out. "You still…like me, don't you?"

Teal'c face split into a gentle smile. "This changes nothing, if that is what you are asking. You are my friend, Vala MalDoran, and that will not change."

She grinned suddenly. "Really?"

He nodded.

Vala sighed and hugged him. "Thank goodness _someone_ around here _always_ makes sense." She wasn't sure whether or not she hoped Daniel noticed the jab. "I'm glad to have you, Teal'c."

"And I am glad that you have remained here with us," he answered kindly.

"Thank you…I'm glad, too."

It wasn't long before Teal'c took his leave, but she didn't mind. Less than a second after the door closed again, Daniel's arms were back around her. Vala leaned back into his chest.

"So…now what?"

"I'm not sure," he admitted. "But I won't leave you again. I promise you that. I'm not saying it'll be easy…but I won't leave like that again."

Vala smiled tiredly. "Easy is boring. Besides…I think I have an idea."

* * *

"You want to get an apartment off base?"

Vala nodded and slid into the chair across from Landry's desk, several days later.

Hank raised an eyebrow. "Vala, I'm glad you and Colonel Mitchell are all right, but that's a bit of a tall order. Last time I checked, Teal'c tried that once. Now, neither of us was here then, but I heard that it didn't turn out so well."

"I know…I heard that story. That's part of why I've never really asked before. Then again, I never really had a reason to before."

Landry looked at her a moment before realization dawned. "The baby."

"I'd rather not raise him or her on a military base, no—not that they're's anything wrong with the SGC, but it's not an environment ideal for rearing a child."

He nodded in understanding. "I know what you mean…" he sighed. "All right. Let me see what I can do."

She gave him a grin. "Thanks."

On the way back to her room she ran into Sam and Cameron, who were coming out of the room Cam had been staying in until he fully recovered. Both of them, had jackets on, and Sam's purse was over her shoulder.

"Going somewhere?" Vala asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I'm taking him home, finally," Sam smiled.

"That's good. Feeling better then?"

Cam shrugged. "Been better, but I'm still here; I'm not complaining."

She chuckled and hugged him. "You'll be fine. We'll all be fine."

Sam gave her a strange look for a moment, but then seemed to shake it off and held out her arms. "What about me?"

Vala hugged her too, and watched the two of them disappear around the corner…wishing she could tell them why everything was going to be all right.

* * *

Daniel stood with Alice in the gravel by their cars, anxiously casting glances back toward the trees as if he could see the SGC from here.

"Eager to get back?" she grinned. "I take it you'll be sticking around for a while."

He nodded. "I owe it to her…and I want to. I can't leave her again, not after everything…" He looked away again.

"I understand. Don't worry about it; Edward and I will think of something to tell the others. You stay as long as you need to."

He smiled a little. "Even when I do come back, I'll be disappearing often…again."

"Then it won't be anything new, now will it?"

"No, I guess not," he chuckled. He trailed off and stared into the distance again, startled eventually out of his reverie by a squeal from Alice.

"Ohhhh! Can't I come?" she pouted suddenly.

Daniel stared at her. "What?"

"You know what," she snapped. "You're making plans without me."

"I'm sorry…"

Alice sighed. "I know, I know. We have to be careful if we're going to keep Vala and the baby off the Volturi's radar." She huffed, but then she smiled mischievously. "Just make sure you give me every detail!"

Daniel just grinned as she hopped into her bright yellow Porsche, and waved as she left.


End file.
